Surgical robot unveiled in Oxford

OXFORD, Miss — Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi has given the public a look at a new surgery robotic system.

The machine is called the "Da Vinci." It allows doctors to perform surgery without major incisions.

The Oxford Eagle reports (http://bit.ly/yT44RE ) that Da Vinci has four arms, including one with a camera attached. With the device, surgeons can make four small incisions and insert the arms into the incisions to perform their work.

At a ceremony last week, guests were invited to try the new $1.4 million system on plastic molds.

Da Vinci was purchased last fall. A team of Oxford gynecologists, headed up by Dr. William Henderson, has used the system in close to 50 procedures since November. Eventually it will be used for bladder, prostate, heart and kidney surgeries.

Henderson admits he was a hard sell at first.

"I was very skeptical," he said Thursday. "Physicians are often bombarded by new technology and we have to ask ourselves, is this something that is really going to make a difference or is it only going to add to our patients' cost?"

Henderson, along with other local gynecologists, went to Atlanta to watch Da Vinci in action. After watching a surgeon perform a very difficult operation, Henderson was sold.

"The light went on for me," Henderson said. "A case that would have been very difficult to do open, he made almost routine using this system. It is really amazing what this has allowed us to do."

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Information from: Oxford Eagle, http://www.oxfordeagle.com