Surgeon's Long Reach

ROBOTICS

LATE LAST September, two surgeons at the Hospital Privado Del Sur in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, flawlessly performed a laparoscopic gastric sleeve procedure-gastric bypass surgery to facilitate weight loss-on a 39year-old woman. It was the first time that Drs. Sergio Cantarelli and Gabriel Egidi had attempted the procedure, but they were guided every step of the way by an American expert, Dr. Alex Gandsas, a bariatric surgeon at Baltimore's Sinai Hospital-even though Gandsas was 5,400 miles away. Gandsas was virtually there via RP-7, a remotepresence robot manufactured by InTouch Health of California, which he controlled using a joystick.

The 5-foot, 5-inch robot has two-way cameras, microphones and a high-speed Internet connection. Gandsas was able to manipulate the robot so that he could watch the surgeons from different angles and zoom in on the patient and monitors. The device allowed him to assess continually how things were going and offer advice and encouragement. Having Gandsas "looking over our shoulder during the surgery greatly enhanced our comfort level," Cantarelli admits. The RP-7 was also used to train Cantarelli and Egidi ahead of the surgery.

InTouch says the technology may help hospitals with limited resources obtain cost-effective, cutting-edge training of its doctors.-TG

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