Self-Adjusting Exposure Aids Transforms Robotic Heart Surgery

Robotic-assisted cardiac surgery has advanced significantly over the years due to its accuracy, minimally invasive nature and improved results. Success of this method is the surgeon’s ability to maintain clear visibility and access to the targeted regions (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Self-Adjusting Atrial and Subvalvular Exposure System for Robotic Surgery

Go to source). Robotic surgery requires smaller incision than traditional open-heart surgery which facilitates faster recovery and less scarring. Limitation of this procedure is minimal access to the complex regions of the heart like atrium and subvalvular regions.

In robotic surgery, exposure is gained by using retractors and stabilizers. Though they are effective, these devices require manual adjustments that make the procedure complex and time consuming. To overcome the challenges researchers have designed a self-adjusting exposure aid that can be used during robotic-assisted cardiac surgery.

Self-Adjusting Exposure Aid

• The surgical field expanding plate is made up of polyether ether ketone.
• A plastic used in medical implants and the aerospace industry.
• It is 0.4 millimeters thick with varying widths and lengths based on the requirement.
• The flexible yet rigid device is simple to use.
• It can be reused.
• When polyether ether ketone plate is made into a circular shape it expands to a certain size and retains the shape, securing the surgical field.

Benefits of Using Self-adjusting Exposure Aid

• It helps the surgeon perform complex surgery with great accuracy.
• The self-adjusting character decreases the need for manual retraction and allows the surgeon to focus on surgery reducing the time of procedure.
• Minimal tissue management reduces trauma promoting faster recovery and less complication.
• It reduces the surgeon's physical strain, improves their comfort and reduces fatigue during lengthy procedures.

Self-adjusting exposure aids can help to perform complex surgical procedures with ease. In future, it can be used in oral surgery and otolaryngology fields for better results.

Reference:

1. Self-Adjusting Atrial and Subvalvular Exposure System for Robotic Surgery - (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15569845241287769)

Source-Medindia