UK ‘surgeons of the future’ training with robots to perform surgery

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Pulling his face away from an immersive 3D headset looking deep inside a patient's lung, doctor Sasha Stamenkovic recounted the final steps of an operation using robots to remove a tumour. "We've done some very, very intricate operating today," said the 60-year-old consultant thoracic surgeon. "We've saved a lot of lung, we've gone around some really, really small vessels and really small airways." He was addressing three surgeons from another English hospital observing Stamenkovic using the new da Vinci 5 robotic-assisted surgical system, made by US company Intuitive.

The equipment will arrive in their operating theatre later this year, part of a drive to increase the use of robotics in keyhole surgery across the UK's National Health Service. Throughout the roughly two-hour operation, Stamenkovic's instructions echoed through a microphone to his surgical team, which includes nurses specially trained as robotic surgical first assistants. As director of robotic surgery and research at Barts Health NHS Trust, he runs fellowships at St Bartholomew's Hospital in central London, shaping what he says will be the "surgeon of the future." The government has set a target for robotic assistance to be used in 9 out of 10 keyhole surgeries in England by 2035.

At first glance, the setup looks like a video game. Stamenkovic carried out the operation via a console at the side of the room, his hand movements translating into the actions of three robotic arms holding operating instruments, looming over a patient lying a few metres away. A fourth arm holds a camera, providing the 3D stream for the surgeon, as well as two screens in the operating theatre.

The robotic systems can be used across a range of specialities including urology, gynaecology, colorectal, thoracic, and abdominal or general surgery. Ali Ansaripour, a senior cardiothoracic trainee on a year-long fellowship, is one of the doctors under his wing. "Stepping away" from the patient and adjusting to this setup was the "biggest challenge", Ansaripour said.

"I think that almost kind of separates you from the patient slightly," he said.