THE advanced da Vinci Xi surgical system was put into use and helped doctors perform five surgeries at Shenzhen People’s Hospital on Thursday.

According to the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, the system used by the hospital is the first da Vinci surgical system in Shenzhen.

The da Vinci surgical system is a robot-assisted surgical device designed to facilitate a minimally invasive surgery. It is said that as long as a surgery can be performed under a traditional laparoscope, it can be completed more easily with the assistance of the system.

Controlled by a surgeon from a console, the system is equipped with wristed instruments that can bend and rotate far greater than the human hand, which enables surgeons to achieve enhanced precision, flexibility and control.

The Xi version introduced by the hospital is the latest generation of the series of da Vinci surgical systems. Compared with the third-generation Si version, it optimizes a surgeon’s expertise to perform operations with a 3-D high-definition view of the surgical area.

Additionally, the system has a highly bionic mechanical arm, which can perfectly simulate the hand movements of surgeons. This unique advantage can greatly reduce the learning cycle of operation techniques. Doctors with enough experience in open surgery can also skillfully manipulate the system after a short period of training.

Qiu Chen, president of Shenzhen People’s Hospital, said it is more important to study how to give full play to the advantages and strengths of the system to provide better medical services for Shenzhen citizens after the introduction of the equipment.

The da Vinci surgical system has been widely used in surgery in the United States and other developed countries and is seeing huge demand in China at present.

According to CGTN, 102 da Vinci surgical systems had been installed in 84 hospitals across the Chinese mainland as of Nov. 5. Globally, more than 5,000 da Vinci surgical platforms are currently in use.

(Zhang Yu)