Robot-assisted surgery is now available at Southlake Health

A stock photo of members of the Southlake Regional Health Centre team. (Southlake Health)

At the hospital in Newmarket, robots helping with surgery is no longer a fictitious or futuristic idea.

Southlake Health announced Friday that a new, robotically assisted surgery technology is now available and already in action.

It’s called the Da Vinci Surgical System.

Southlake says the robotic mechanism is fully controlled by the surgeon and translates hand movements into precise, real-time movements of robotic instruments while providing an up-close view of the surgery area.

The technology is currently designed for minimally invasive procedures and is currently used in the urology and general surgery departments at Southlake Regional Health Centre.

“This technology expands our capabilities so we can continue to provide patients with leading edge surgical care, close to home,” said John Randle, MD, Chief of Surgery at Southlake Health.

According to Southlake, it took approximately 50 team members, ranging from surgeons and nurses to operational leaders to ensure the Da Vinci system could be implemented and used safely.

Da Vinci is the second robot-assisted surgical technology made available at Southlake.

In the fall, the hospital began to offer robotic-assisted knee surgery technology named ROSA.

Southlake claims to now be the only hospital in York region to offer both Da Vinci and Rosa technologies together.