[idiot900]

Robotic head and neck surgery is routine at major medical centers all over. Da Vinci has been around for many years and it is human controlled.

I’m glad this patient was helped but there is absolutely nothing interesting otherwise about this.

[richk449]

What an amazing world we live in. There is nothing interesting about a robotic assisted surgery able to perform more delicate and sophisticated operations than the best human surgeon in the world.

[iancmceachern]

This kind of headline drives me nuts.

Da Vinci is telecontrolled. The robot does nothing but imitate the exact motion its commanded to by the surgeon.

The headline should read " Surgeon saves patients life using surgical tool that has been widely available an on the market for decades"

The medical professionals deserve the credit. If this was 20 years ago, yeah, we should celebrate the technical achievement and advancement, but there isn't one here. It's old news.

Source- I've designed several (surgical robots)

[ww520]

Yes, the medical advancement is quite amazing. Couple years ago a friend went on a funding tour visiting startups and he mentioned he saw a demo of 3D oral scanning device to build a 3D model of the teeth. This year I saw the device in my dentist office and did an oral scan to build the 3D mold for bite guard. He said it's cheaper than the old method.

[PrimeMcFly]

Correct. In the same way there is nothing interesting about being able to buy a 60" flat screen TV for $300 brand new.

Times change, technology advances, and when those advances become 'old' they cease to be interesting for the most part.

[dehrmann]

Cars are just as impressive, just a century older.

[coldtea]

>What an amazing world we live in.

The kind of amazing where untold millions of people can't afford basic healthcare in the same country that we have a robot surgeon?

[wait_a_minute]

It's interesting to me. This is the first I read about Da Vinci and its capabilities in surgery.