The history of the creation of the Da Vinci robot surgeon
Robotics has long been an integral part of the life of modern man. It is widely used in various industries – automotive, shipbuilding, aircraft, manufacturing, and even in the medical field. In the medical industry, the most famous work of robotics engineers is considered to be the Da Vinci robot assistant, used to perform minimally invasive operations with a minimum percentage of risk.
Da Vinci – what kind of robot is this
Da Vinci is a sophisticated robotic system that expands the capabilities of surgical practitioners. It consists of several consoles – doctor, patient, visualization, and is also equipped with four manipulators used in surgical intervention.
In fact, the surgeon uses the console to control the manipulators, receiving a three-dimensional image of the operation field in HD quality. The manipulators are designed by analogy with the human wrist, but with a large number of degrees of freedom and a stabilization system that allows you to suppress tremor, and intervention is more accurate and safe.
How the Da Vinci surgical robot was created
The first robotic systems for surgical intervention were developed in the United States back in the 80s of the last century, and their main purpose is to provide emergency assistance to astronauts in orbit. In parallel with the work of NASA, developments were also carried out in the US defense department, which offered scientists a lot of ideas and developments, due to which the number of complications, injuries received during the operation, and the recovery period decreased.
1985 was marked by the presentation of the first simple robot “Puma 560” for surgeons, used in neurosurgery. At the same time, the robotic manipulator “Probot” appeared, which found applications in urology. In 1992, the RoboDoc robotic system was used for prosthetic joints.
The first Aespo manipulator arm was announced in 1993, and it was it that became the basis for the creation of Da Vinci, the predecessor of which is the Zeus system of robots and controllers.
Da Vinci itself was developed in the late 90s of the last century by Intuitive Surgical Inc. It is named after the well-known inventor who designed the first robot that performed certain actions with its limbs. Da Vinci began to be used on a massive scale in 2000, when the appropriate FDA clearance was obtained, after which it began to be increasingly used in Western hospitals for operations performed in the abdominal cavity and in the chest.
The robot surgeon Da Vinci has been improved more than once, and today many of its modifications and versions are successfully used in world-famous clinics. Given the constant progress in technology and processor technology, we can expect the emergence of more accurate and autonomous versions of Da Vinci, capable of saving thousands of lives.