da Vinci Robotic System

Surgical robots steadily are becoming more common, but their growth potential still faces cost and technological barriers.  A da Vinci robot costs around $2.5 million, which its maker argues is recovered in shorter lengths of stay in the hospital.  Some say the learning curve for surgeons is steep, but many observe that robots are limited by the articulation at the tip, and limited visualization.  NIH, however, is funding improvements that, in a sense, turn the instrument’s tip into a “Swiss Army knife.”  The course of development seems headed toward the smaller and cheaper. MORE including a video on robotic surgery

Image Credit:  Intuitive Surgical