Riverside County residents interested in seeing a demonstration of how the Riverside University Health System’s surgical robot performs vital operations will have an opportunity Thursday when RUHS Medical Center staff in Moreno Valley put the high-tech device through its paces for display purposes.
The six-hour demo sessions will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday in the medical campus’ Pavilion Lobby, which is immediately adjacent to parking lots G, H and I at 26250 Cactus Ave.
The hospital’s DaVinci 5 robotic system will be in action, managed by qualified staff, who will provide examples of what the next-generation technology can do, according to officials. In some instances, visitors may be invited to sit in the surgeon’s seat for a real feel of the robotics.
“Quick recovery from surgery is important for many of the patients we serve who need to return to their jobs quickly to support themselves and their families,” surgeon and hospital Robotics Subcommittee Chair Dr. Reyna Gonzalez said. “The DaVinci 5 lets us heal those patients in a safe but accelerated way.”
According to administrators, the system has completed a total 3,626 procedures since it was acquired a decade ago.
“The medical center was among the first county hospitals in the country to use the DaVinci 5,” according to an RUHS statement.
The agency said a DaVinci Xi preceded the 5 model.
“Both the Xi and 5 work the same way: From a remote console, surgeons can view 10-time magnified 3D images of surgery areas while using tools that respond to their wrist movements,” RUHS stated. “The systems can perform surgeries that would have previously required a larger incision or open surgery.”
Patients in need of colorectal, thoracic and cardiac procedures have undergone operations in which the robots have been utilized, officials said.
The DaVinci 5’s advantages include immediate “force feedback,” alerting a surgeon to the amount of pressure being applied during a procedure, as well as instantaneous teleconferencing with colleagues for consultations during operations.
The system was acquired as part of a $25.5 million capital improvement package that the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved in fall 2015, which included not only the surgical robot, but also CT machines, magnetic resonance imaging equipment and a cardiac catheterization lab.