Robots Make The Cut in Hospitals

In a short while, robots might very well take over for surgeons in the operating room, but the technicians first need to be trained. That was the inspiration behind the new International College of Robotic Surgery, which opened earlier this year. The college aims to train surgical teams on advanced, minimally invasive robotic techniques using customized education modules based on various levels of expertise and need, Modern Healthcare reports.

Robots in hospitals are not new. For instance, a robot called the da Vinci Surgical System, manufactured by Intuitive Surgical in Sunnyvale, Calif., has been installed in more than 850 hospitals. In these operations, the robotic arm does the procedure while the surgeon watches the movements through a video console. But these robots are not popular among doctors, who don't see a reason to use a machine to operate when they can use their own hands — even though many doctors have said that "the robot makes minimally invasive surgeries easier to perform."

The college was launched by St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, which wanted to take basic training to the next level. The school offers interactive, online and remote guidance to international teams interested in learning about robotics. Since opening in January, the college has had about four to five teams come in for training each month, some as far as Shanghai.

But putting robots in hospitals gets expensive. Hospitals have to be willing to pay more than $1 million for the system, plus maintenance fees. Also, productivity drops as surgeons need to take time for training.

For the complete story, visit modernhealthcare.com.