VATS Thymectomy With Wristed Instruments: Surgeon-Powered Robotics

This is a video of a right VATS thymectomy. The authors use the ArtiSential® wristed instruments and a camera holder to perform surgeon-powered robotics. This instrument looks and feels exactly like a robotic operation and can do everything that robots do, but it is all powered by the surgeon and not by a robot.

Other advantages include the ability for the surgeon to be by the bedside for safety, receive tactile feedback, and perform the stapling in lobectomies. This method significantly reduces the advantages of robotics over standard VATS procedures.

Let us know what you think about these instruments and how you think this will affect the demand for robotics!

Disclosure

Joel Dunning received the ArtiSential® Instruments free of charge while investigating them for the first time in thoracic surgery.