Today we highlight a Sunnyvale, CA-based company called Intuitive Surgical. Founded in 1995, Intuitive Surgical's flagship product is the da Vinci surgical system.
The da Vinci system uses robotics and the latest 3-D visualization technology to simplify many minimally-invasive surgical procedures. The system consists of a surgeon's console, a patient-side cart, a vision system, and a number of proprietary surgical instruments controlled by the surgeon on the console.
So far, the da Vinci system has been successfully used in urologic, laproscopic, gynecologic, and throracoscopic surgical procedures.
This product definitely extends the boundaries of traditional surgery. Large movements by the surgeon are translated to much smaller movements at the site of surgery, which allows for more precise techniques and is also more forgiving at unexpected movements by the surgeon's hands. While Intuitive's focus is not pure "robotic surgery", robot-assisted surgical units such as the da Vinci system certainly makes the surgeon's job a little less stressful.
Learn more: http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/index.aspx
