New robotic system could let surgeons operate on a beating heart
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 11th 2009 9:42PM
posted December 11th 2009 9:42PM
It may not have been put into practice just yet, but it looks like a new robotic-assisted system could one day let surgeons use a surgical robot (like Da Vinci system pictured at left) to operate on a beating human heart. That impressive development comes courtesy of a group of researchers at France's Montpellier Laboratory of Informatics, Robotics, and Microelectronics, and centers on a new 3D modeling system that can track the motion of the heart's surface as it beats. It can even apparently adjust for things like movement of the patient's chest wall during breathing, and predict the movements in a single step (unlike previous attempts that resulted in a delay). When paired with a robotic arm, the system would effectively let surgeons operate on a heart as if it were completely still. In addition to being generally amazing, the system could also potentially open up a number of new possibilities for heart surgery, not the least of which is the ability to operate on patients for whom the risks of surgery have previously outweighed the benefits.
I'll go ahead and let them test that on somebody else.
@Evan
Beating heart surgery has revolutionsed the way that we treat heart disease today. It was developed by us in India (published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery USA in Jan 2000) and since then there has been no looking back. High risk patients who were earlier denied surgery and died of heart attack are now being given a new lease of life. Hospital stay , need for blood , and survival are all much better with beating eart surgery.
Robotic surgery has added a new dimension and with special sutures which 'snap on' we can operate with a pin hole scar. I predict that in 5 years time all surgery will be done by a robot - controlled by a surgeon sitting at a console. Results will be more predictable and surgery safer.
Dr Harinder Singh Bedi MCh, FIACS ( Gold Medallist)
Head, Dept of CardioVascular & Thoracic Surgery
Christian Medical College & Hospital
Brown Road
Ludhiana – 141008
Punjab, INDIA
Ph 9814060480
E mail: drhsbedi@gmail.com, drhsbedi@hotmail.com
Interesting. However, I assume there are limits to this, since I thought that in addition to the motion issue, the whole "blood spurting at full blood pressure" was another reason why they would stop the heart.
This is a hallucination. I have to know if its real. I need proof! *Struggle for controls* RRRRRIIIIIIIIIP down the middle. House, what have you done?!
This is great and all until the robot apocalypse. These things will be able to accurately tell where your heart will be and stab you right through it.
not my heart.
I'm not sure it's a good idea to have robots doing heart surgery. I mean robots have software that tell them what to do and software can crash! Humans are more reliable. When was the last time you heard of a surgeon dying in the middle of a operation?
@pcwzrd13 I could have sworn that was an episode on E.R.
The reason why people don't like to operate on beating hearts isn't because it's difficult (some surgeons currently operate on beating hearts) but because doing a bypass while the patient's heart is beating is causes damage to the heart from not having sufficient oxygen. Stopping the heart lowers the amount of oxygen it requires, so doing a bypass doesn't cause as much damage to the heart tissue itself. Doing a bypass while the heart is beating causes the heart to require a lot more oxygen and the surgery will temporarily cut off an already limited amount of blood (since we're talking about patients with heart disease). Right now most surgeons will stop the heart as well as cool down a patient's body temperature to lower the oxygen demand, including packing the patient's open chest with ice to make sure the heart tissue doesn't suffer unnecessary damage.
Most surgeons I know think the Da Vinci is overrated. The learning curve is huge (seemingly more than with other technologies) and the benefits don't quite seem worth it. Urology & Gyn get the most use out of it. It's more of a marketing tool in my area than anything else.
@drb Tell it to the shareholders of ISRG who make the Da Vinci and have made a mint on the sales of the machine. Have you seen the billboards of Hospitals advertising they have the Da Vinci system?
Anyone else reminded of a facehugger?
There better not be any laaaag.
Looks like a spider practicing safe sex. *shrugs*
Looks like NO ONE is reading this article :/
Surgeons have been operating on beating hearts for coronary bypass for several years now. A recent study suggested there was worse overall outcomes with on pump versus off pump bypass.
There are also studies suggesting that the Da Vinci robot is of questionable benefit.
These are two examples, and EMR's the third, of technologies that are considered superior to older methods, simply because they are "technology".
Clarify:
A recent study suggested there was worse overall outcomes with OFF pump(beating heart) versus ON pump bypass (the older technique).
Can it please recreate Milla Jovovich from an alien arm?