A Pittsburgh area woman has undergone a new, robot-assisted weight loss surgical procedure at Allegheny General Hospital.
(Vocus) July 9, 2009 -- A Washington County woman is recovering well today after undergoing a new, robot-assisted weight loss surgical procedure at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH). Malinda Eustis, 52, of Canonsburg, is one of just a handful of bariatric patients in the region to benefit from the advanced technology since AGH launched its robotic surgery program in 2008.
A state-of-the-art device that is revolutionizing the field of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System features robotic arms equipped with surgical instruments that are remotely controlled by surgeons sitting at a console in the operating room.
Originally developed by NASA for operating on astronauts in space and used by the Department of Defense to operate on soldiers in the battlefield, the da Vinci System allows surgeons to see targeted anatomy through a high resolution, three dimensional endoscopic camera. The System's robotic arms exceed the natural range of motion of the human hand and are designed to minimize the possibility of human error.
Doctors at the West Penn Allegheny Health System (WPAHS) are now using the technology to perform an assortment of surgical procedures, including prostate cancer surgery, gynecologic surgery and surgeries of the pancreas, esophagus, adrenal gland, gallbladder and kidney.
According to Miro Uchal, M.D., Director of AGH’s Minimally Invasive Surgery Center Education Program and Director of the hospital’s Division of Bariatric Surgery (www.pabariatricsurgery.com), weight loss surgery was a natural extension of the robotic program considering the complexity of the procedure and the growin
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