Wired Science

Robot Surgeons are Fully Operational

If you're getting surgery these days, chances are good the scalpel will be wielded by a doctor with nerves of steel - literally. Across the country, a growing number of operations are now performed with the help of robots - specifically, a six-foot tall set of machines that looks like a cross between a gigantic Swiss army knife and a can opener on steroids.

Known as the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, this remotely controlled apparatus allows doctors to direct machine-controlled surgical tools without themselves touching the patient. That lets surgeons get into smaller parts of the body – and into smaller bodies, like those of newborn infants - with greater precision, through smaller incisions and without breaking bones. The tools can also be rotated 360 degrees, unlike the human wrist. That means surgeons can, for instance, get at a tumor hiding behind a liver without having to move the organ. These operations typically have a bonus payoff for patients, too, in the form of quicker recovery, fewer infections, smaller scars and less pain.

The Da Vinci is so far the only robotic surgical system approved by the FDA, but its use is spreading rapidly. More than 600 of the $1.5 million machines currently operate daily on people around the world. It's become commonplace in some procedures, such as prostate cancer treatment.

WIRED Science follows a heart patient through his robot-assisted operation – and in Web exclusive video we try our own hand at directing a Da Vinci robot. Also dig deeper into what the next big things in robotic surgery might be, from long-distance tele-surgery to a heart-repairing robot worm.