With the Mako, surgeons can do CAT scans and get the most accurate picture of the patient's anatomy, which they input into the medical robot. The Mako, under the surgeon's control, is less invasive and more precise, which surgeons are noticing leads to unbelievable results for their patients. 

The following submission statement was provided by /u/darth_nadoma:

With the Mako, surgeons can do CAT scans and get the most accurate picture of the patient's anatomy, which they input into the medical robot. The Mako, under the surgeon's control, is less invasive and more precise, which surgeons are noticing leads to unbelievable results for their patients. 

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/11188hx/medical_robots_assisting_in_surgery_at_pbgmc/j8d9anm/

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Makes sense, even the best surgeon is only human and is limited by human range of motion and endurance. A robot can hold a position infinitely or move in ways no human joint could with precision no human can match.

I just watched a documentary on Netflix called The Bleeding Edge. I am much less excited about robotics in surgery. It appears the training of doctors is woefully inadequate.

I think over time, as the speed at which robots can make decisions and perform surgical tasks increases, they will get better and better. Being able to perform an operation in a few minutes rather than a couple of hours seems much less invasive for the patients body to deal with.

The surgeons report quicker recovery; but I'm more curious about the patient's recovery time.

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FYI, the use of MAKO that I have been involved with in orthopaedics is not less invasive. It's technically slightly more invasive as you'll have additional rods inserted into the leg for stereotactic guidance.

It just involves more calculated cuts of the joint to help guide alignment/orientation of the prosthesis, which is normally done manually by a skilled surgeon. Mako can allow unskilled surgeons to achieve much better results as it'll do a lot of the thinking for them, but probably produces similar results for a skilled surgeon but with a lengthier operating time.

That's enough, dad.

I had a surgeon tell me he could use a laparoscope for what I was having done, but he wasn’t very confident with it and would prefer to do it by hand. I dealt with the slightly larger surgical scar and extra week of recovery instead of testing this guy’s robot handling.

I think you fundamentally misunderstand what the robot in the article is. It doesn’t make decisions or performs surgical tasks. It’s a mechanical arm attached to a bone saw that prevents the surgeons from straying outside of the predefined surgical field— like bowling with bumper rails.

I would absolutely find a other doctor that is passionate about providing top of the line care using the newest techniques, and who has some experience.

I had a hernia repaired and I purposefully chose a doctor that has experience with the lap method and had positive patient outcomes.

Yes, the doctors said they feel COMPETENT not outstanding, competent after hundreds sometimes thousands of procedures.

oh sorry. You are correct. I remember articles from years ago that implied Mako robots did partial and full knee replacement surgery, not ASSISTED with that type of surgery.

(I still think robots that can perform misc surgery extremely quickly will help improve things, but that may be decades away, of course)

If it was for a different surgery, I’d absolutely agree. I had a bilateral salpingectomy and it was hard enough to find someone who would perform a sterilization surgery on someone my age with no kids. Another doctor at the practice was highly skilled in laparoscopies and recommended to me by others, but she laughed in my face when I asked her.

Thank you for posting your personal experience.

It's an ancient profession rooted in Art rather than science.

Deregulation would be a blessing.

My surgery for a tumor removal in my chest involved a robot assist and my healing time was pretty fast. Anecdotal, yes, but not surprised by the article. (They also used surgical tape instead of stitches which worked well)

Hopefully not decades, it's less than 5 years away (and hopefully doesn't stay that way)

Surgical robots have been around for decades. Mako has struggled to get sales and was bought by Stryker in 2013 mainly as a way for them to place more Stryker implants in knees. While there may be some minor benefits of precise measuring, the small benefits may not outweigh the costs. It’s hard to find a successful Mako program at any hospital. With daVinci, the costs increase while the benefits may not justify it. I’m all for advancing healthcare with surgical platforms, but robotic instruments are not always the answer. They still have a place in the OR… just not front and center as the public might think.

Just remember sonny Jim it was ya grandpa’s generation that gave you email and the internet so just be grateful ya little scallywag 😉

I am an orthopedic surgeon with 25 years of experience. There is not one single study, showing that any of these orthopedic robots improve anything in the long term for the patient. Their use is largely hype rather than actual scientific substance.

The trick is no one really wants to be the test subject of the beta version of that robot.

But is it easier to use for you? It could be worth it if it decreases the level of physical stress or difficulty for the surgeon.

It makes cases more complex, not less. Takes more time.

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