BehindTheMedspeak: Robot anesthesiologist performs flawlessly during world's first all-robotic surgery

It would appear my days passing gas are as numbered as those of my daily newspapers.

From PopSci.com: "I’m not sure I would trust robots named McSleepy and DaVinci to knock me out and cut me open, but that’s what one brave soul [head visible just below the lower edge of the drape in the photo above] just did, when he had his prostate removed at McGill University Health Centre for the world's first all-robotic surgery [and anesthetic]." 

"DaVinci is a widely used surgical robot that can be controlled by surgeons from remote locations, and McSleepy is, appropriately, an anesthesia bot. The two collaborated for the first time ever in this groundbreaking surgery, performed at Montreal General Hospital. Their surgeon masters kept them closely monitored, of course, but the use of the bots provided for a higher level of precision than would be achievable with humans alone."

"The success of this surgery makes it likely that DaVinci and McSleepy will team up again. The researchers plan to test robotic surgery and robotic anesthesia across a variety of surgeries and patients."

McGill University's account stated, "Providing anesthesia for robotic prostatectomy can be challenging because of the specific patient positioning and the high degree of muscle relaxation necessary to maintain perfect conditions for the surgical team. Automated anesthesia delivery via McSleepy guarantees the same high quality of care every time it is used, independent from the subjective level of expertise. It can be configured exactly to the specific needs of different surgeries, such as robotic surgery."

"There is still some work needed to perfect the all-robotic approach — from technical aspects to space requirements for the robots. Whereas robots have been used in surgery for quite some time, anesthesia has finally caught up. Robots will not replace doctors but help them to perform to the highest standards."

What I'm waiting for is a YouTube video of the world's first successful robotic endotracheal intubation, which I'm betting the house did not occur during anesthesia induction in the procedure detailed above.

That's when I'll know it's time to hang up the old breathing bag.

[via Ray Earhart]