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Robot hands promising in heart valve surgery-study
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan 31 (Reuters) - Heart valves can be successfully replaced by using robotic hands in a type of ``keyhole surgery'' that involves making just a tiny incision in the chest, according to a study made public Monday.
Minimally invasive mitral valve replacements were performed on six dogs using a microsurgical robot through an inch-and-a-half (3.8 cm) incision, an improvement on open-heart surgery that meant cutting open the patient's breastbone, said Dr. Eugene Grossi, who performed the operations along with a surgery team at New York University School of Medicine.
``This is the first time we're using really new instruments that are not held by our hands inside the patient's chest,'' Grossi said.
The study was presented at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' 36th annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
An estimated 5.6 million Americans suffer from mitral valve prolapse, a condition in which a heart valve allows small amounts of blood to flow backward as it moves between heart chambers, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Grossi said the surgical team used an echocardiogram transducer, passed through the oesophagus, to obtain a picture of the heart.
A one-and-a-half-inch (3.8 cm) incision was made through the ribcage for access to the heart and the valve replacement was performed using the ZEUS Robotic System, a medical device that functions as a surgeon' s hands.
The surgeon operates the robotic hands from a computer console, Grossi said.
``It removes tremors and it allows us a beautiful, unobstructed view of what we're doing,'' he said. ``Instead of making a big hole in the chest we look through instruments.''
Heart surgery used to involve cutting through the patient's breastbone and spreading the chest to expose the heart, Grossi said.
Other minimally invasive techniques have been used in the last few years and the robotic hands hold the promise of further minimising trauma for the estimated 20,000 Americans who have mitral valve surgery each year, Grossi said.
``We know that minimally invasive surgery shortens the recovery time and minimises the pain,'' he said. ``We're hoping we can make it even less traumatic and less invasive.''
Grossi said he hoped clinical trials would begin within the next few months.
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The above news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
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