Surgical robots, with their advantages of more precision, less invasiveness, and simplicity, are showing their
skills in diagnosis, surgery, rehabilitation and nursing, and have brought profound changes to the medical industry. With the maturity of modern medical technology, surgical operations will continue after 2010. Enter the era of robots. In addition to the most mature laparoscopic surgical robots that cover most of the thoracic and abdominal cavities, there are also orthopedic surgical robots, pan-vascular surgical robots, and percutaneous puncture surgical robots.
Since April this year, Beijing and Shanghai have also included the cost of robotic surgery in their medical insurance overall plan. With the support of policies, the development of medicine and the advancement of technology, robot-assisted surgery will become more and more widespread in the future.
Can robots replace doctors
At 9 pm on October 21st, An Wei, chief physician of the Second Department of Urology, Bethune First Hospital of Jilin University, completed the fifth operation of the day. Among them, four were operated with robot-assisted operations: two prostates Radical cancer resection, one nephron-preserving surgery, and one hemi-urinary tract resection for renal pelvic cancer.
”Robot surgery is not a robot to complete the operation, but to become the doctor’s surgical assistant. During the entire operation, the doctor can sit on the console to operate the robot, and the robot simulates the doctor’s actions to perform the operation. This can greatly relieve the doctor from standing continuously. Fatigue caused by surgery.” An Wei said.
Since the introduction of medical robots in May 2020, An Wei has led a team to perform nearly 300 robotic surgeries. An Wei told reporters that robotic surgery is more advantageous in radical treatment of tumors, especially malignant tumors. The miniature camera carried by the robot can magnify the image in the patient’s body by more than 10 times and can synthesize high-definition 3D images. The robotic arm has 7 freedoms. Degree, 540 degree rotation, higher accuracy, better surgical field of vision.
”Through the precise image positioning algorithm of the orthopedic surgical robot, the robotic arm can execute the instructions of the doctor’s surgical planning.” said Sun Dahui, director of the Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics, Bethune First Hospital, Jilin University. . The selection of the surgical path is based on the doctor’s understanding of the three-dimensional anatomical structure of the bone, accurate judgment of the image and a large amount of clinical experience. The robot only uses automatic navigation to find the best channel screw position selected for the surgical planning.
During the interview, many experts said that the advancement of science and technology is constantly subverting traditional medicine, but medicine is not a “technological” field. In the process of fighting against diseases, robots cannot replace the humanistic care and love of doctors for patients.
Robotic surgery it safe
when initially mentions robotic surgery, most patients are most concerned about the safety of robotic surgery. The reporter learned that the current advantages of robotic surgery are its stability, accuracy, and resistance to fatigue, and that the entire surgery is done with the participation of doctors. Ni Duanyu, deputy chief physician of the Department of Functional Neurosurgery of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, told reporters that as long as they explain to the patients, most people are willing to accept it, and they can communicate at any time even if they have questions.
Sun Dahui told reporters that with regard to the application of orthopedic surgery robots, the National Health Commission’s requirement for doctors is to achieve “zero risk” and no serious complications during the operation.
”Zero risk” is a hard requirement, and implementation depends on the excellent strength of the doctors who perform robotic surgery. Han Qin, attending physician at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, told reporters, “The robot system has a built-in emergency handling mode, and our doctors will make plans in advance to respond to emergencies at any time.”
In addition to safety, costs are also an issue that patients are extremely concerned about. . “Take pelvic fractures as an example. Under traditional surgery, patients using imported steel plates generally cost 80,000 to 100,000 yuan, while domestic steel plates cost 60,000 to 80,000 yuan. However, if you use an orthopedic surgical robot system for navigation, the total cost is It is 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. The overall cost of the patient is less, the minimally invasive surgery is better, and it can also avoid the defects of traditional open surgery such as long incisions, large trauma, and easy infection.” Sun Dahui said.
The data shows that from the current penetration rate of laparoscopic surgical robots and joint surgical robots, the penetration rates of the two major categories in the United States are 13% and 7.6% respectively, and both are less than 1% in China.
The price of equipment is the primary reason for the low penetration rate. Take the Da Vinci surgical robot that is currently the most widely used as an example. The price is usually between 20 million and 30 million yuan per unit, and the annual maintenance cost is about 1.5 million yuan. The reporter learned that, with the exception of first-tier cities, hospitals in most provincial capitals also have only two or three surgical robots. Surgical robots in my country started late, related technologies are far behind foreign countries, and key core components are heavily dependent on imports.
In order to accelerate the speed of localization of medical robots, Chinese universities, hospitals, and high-tech enterprises have been jointly exploring for many years, and results have emerged one after another. In the future, surgical robots will surely benefit more people at a more inclusive price.
