Meet the $3M robotic surgeon that just made its debut at San Joaquin General Hospital

FOR SURGEONS, USING San Joaquin General Hospital’s newest robot is like “playing a virtual reality game in which everything is in 3D,” the hospital says. “Your hands are the instruments.”

The roughly $3 million Da Vinci 5 Surgical System — an imposing white machine bearing four mantis-like arms, and manipulated through two detached consoles — was featured in its first surgery this past Thursday, spokesperson Jessica Helmick said.

Doctors and hospital officials hope their investment in the robot will improve safety and recovery for patients, and help retain talent at the longtime teaching hospital, she said.

Founded in 1857, San Joaquin General serves more than 1.3 million people a year in its outpatient clinics alone, its website says. San Joaquin General is a designated public hospital, meaning many of its patients are low-income or use MediCal.

It’s also a training hospital, with residency programs in general surgery, internal medicine and family practice, the site says. More than 3,000 doctors have trained there since the hospital started residencies in 1932.

Now, with the purchase of the Da Vinci 5, San Joaquin General is also the first teaching hospital in Northern California to possess the robot’s two-console system, colorectal surgeon Dr. Bassem Ghobrial said.

That means it surpassed big names like Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco in getting the device, he said.

But the Da Vinci 5 isn’t the county hospital’s first encounter with the technology. Attending surgeon Dr. Jonathan Lu recently surpassed 1,000 surgeries on the robot’s predecessor, the Da Vinci Xi, Ghobrial said.

With both systems, surgeons manipulate the robot’s “hands” remotely by placing their own hands in a console and moving their thumbs and index fingers, Debbie Cocola, Director of Perioperative Services, explained. The Da Vincis then open and close their “hands,” she explained.

Just a flick of the robotic wrist

Both robots also possess a wide range of “wrist” movements, including 360-degree rotations and up-and-down motions, Cocola said. This is key for colorectal, gynecological and chest surgeries — “anything in the torso,” Lu said — and for working in hard-to-reach areas like the pelvis, Ghobrial said.

“It makes a harder surgery easier,” Lu said.

But the most important feature that separates the new Da Vinci from the old one is its ability to convey to the surgeon how much pressure he or she is putting on the patient’s body via the robot’s arms, the doctors explained. Patients should be safer as a result, Helmick said.

The Da Vinci 5 also wields more computing power, a better 3D display and is more comfortable for surgeons to use, she said.

Surgeons, residents and staff must master online trainings by the manufacturer, Intuitive, before using the new robot on patients, Helmick said. Surgeons train for 45 minutes, and staff and residents train for 90 minutes if they’ve already learned to use the old model.

“This investment goes into the education of everybody who we hope to retain at the hospital,” Helmick said.

But most importantly, “this technology ensures all residents of San Joaquin County have equal access to cutting-edge technology regardless of socioeconomic or insurance status,” she said.

Reporter Edward Lopez contributed to this story.

This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.

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