The system combines the characteristics of the surgical microscope with those of robotic technology. It allows you to control the three-dimensional vision instrument with the movements of the surgeon’s head
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FERRARA. First intervention in Italy (and among the first in Europe), the one performed by the team of the Otolaryngology Operating Unit of the University Hospital of Ferrara directed by Professor Stefano Pelucchi, using a new surgical technique for the positioning of a cochlear implant used in otosurgery (middle and inner ear or eardrum membrane, ossicles and cochlea).
From 6 to 18 November this year, numerous ENT surgeries were completed using the RoboticScope. It is a 3D robotic digital device that combines the characteristics of the surgical microscope with those of robotic technology and allows the three-dimensional vision instrument to be piloted with the movements of the surgeon’s head.
This allows to optimize the vision of the operating field even in areas of the body whose correct exposure forces, with traditional techniques, tiring positions for the surgeon as most of these operations involve the operating room teams for many hours. The first two of the 6 interventions, carried out with this technique, were performed on November 6 on a 21-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman by placing a cochlear implant (an electronic artificial ear capable of restoring perception hearing aid in people with profound deafness, used when hearing aids do not achieve the desired result).
In the following days, other complex otosurgical procedures and an operation for a parotid neoplasm were also performed. To learn the use of the instrument, in the days before the first surgery, the surgeons performed a simulation test on models (the 3D viewers, in fact, are customized on the operators’ eyes). Training that was successfully completed. Normally for this type of surgery the operating microscope is used, an optical non-digital magnification instrument that the surgeon uses by placing his eyes directly on the eyepieces and moving it, during the surgery, several times to obtain the best alignment between his view and the operating field.
The RoboticScope combines digital magnification with the surgeon’s vision, transforming it into a 3D perspective controlled by the professional, with just the movement of the head. This allows you to never interrupt the vision of the operating field and not to have to assume uncomfortable positions for operations that are usually long enough. In addition, the double vision allows, even those who help and are learning, to have the same 3D vision as the operator: this greatly improves the learning curve. Not least the advantages for people undergoing these types of interventions with the aid of the RoboticScope who, thanks to the method, can benefit from an even more precise surgical procedure.
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