As medical providers, we are all aware that the current trend in medicine is for patients to have 24/7 access from anywhere to any specialist. Electronic ICUs are popping up all over. Virtual Skype visits are on the rise. Telemedicine is becoming more popular. As the distance between patient and provider increases, we are left with a choice, either get with the times or fade into obscurity.
This trend has not been lost on the robotic surgery industry. Last year intuitive medical, the American company that created the davinci came out with their newest iteration of the surgical robot, the davinci iprobe. This allows the user to precisely control the surgical instruments not with a cumbersome and poorly designed console, but rather with an iPhone and hand movements. The user need only install a motion sensor to the phone jack.
Surgeons across the country are elated about the new iteration of the davinci robot. It is hailed as being at the pinnacle medical technology, the most superior object ever created on the face of the earth. With this technology, the user has to simply be within cell phone range of the surgical suite. It allows surgeons a degree of freedom that is unparalleled in the medical world.
Users of the davinci iprobe can perform cholecystectomies while watching Netflix. They can do a hysterectomy while in line at the DMV. And if they have a GI bug? No worries. They can even operate while on the toilet.
Nay sayers have complained that it’s “not safe”, and “what about the cell phone connection”. Further bringing up fallacious problems such as “surgeon distraction” and “Blah blah blah,”. However, surgeons know different. They are absolutely certain that they can make this work and all of them are on board. Because everyone knows there is nothing more satisfying than doing an entire colectomy while emptying your own colon.
