Precision comes first

Every year, as many as 500 patients may benefit from da Vinci, a high-precision surgical robot. Although it was developed on the request of the Pentagon over 20 years ago, it is still in great demand in the medical sector. It has been available in Poland for over a year. The advanced technology is available to patients of the Poznań-based Greater Poland Cancer Centre (Wielkopolskie Centrum Onkologii, WCO).

‘The capabilities of da Vinci can be used in the head and neck surgery, abdomen procedures, and gynaecological oncology,’ says Prof. Wojciech Golusiński from the WCO. ‘The new technology makes it possible to perform high-precision surgery without affecting the patient’s comfort. For instance, after an operation on the head and neck, the patient can speak and swallow already one day after treatment, and his or her stay in the hospital is reduced to 3-4 days only.

: Patients of the Wielkopolska Oncology Centre in Poznań have access to modern technologies

: da Vinci robotic arm is the extension of surgeon’s hands

: 3D image helps to perform precise incisions

Over 6 million operations
In mid-2019, 5270 da Vinci robotic arms were in use in the world. The total number of operations performed so far is in excess of 6 million. *
*Intuitive Surgical Inc., Investor PresentationQ3 2019 (PDF) (access: 22 August 2019).

The da Vinci surgical arm is the extension of surgeon’s hands. This makes it possible to eliminate shaky hands. Moreover, 3D images with the 10x zoom help to perform exceptionally precise incisions. Robotic surgery is particularly useful when dealing with tumours which due to their location are difficult to remove using traditional methods.

Project: The development of robotic surgery methods in Wielkopolska
Project cost: PLN 13.9 million, including PLN 11.7 million from the European Regional Development Fund, Wielkopolski Regional Programme