Are Surgical Robots really the Future of Medicine?

1785 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Da vinci surgical system works

Knowledge is a basic fundamental right of today’s society. Individuals from across the globe strive to take their intentions one step further for reasons such as recognition, money, or the satisfaction of learning new things. There are no limits to learning new things since there is always new information that shapes our understanding of the specific topic; therefore, there is no one to question why one wants to build their knowledge, since it can only be a benefit to society. When Edward Jenner came up with the first vaccine to cure smallpox, society didn’t frown upon the fact that hundreds of Americans were saved from this deadly disease. In fact, they paid him millions of dollars to continue making the vaccines. From the 1700s to present day, our pursuit of knowledge has increased dramatically and has pushed the limits even further to discover new, advanced technologies. We, Americans, put efficiency in front of responsibility, and ultimately, face the consequences. A key example includes the use of surgical robots. These machines do increase efficiency and, at the same time, decreases the severity of the aftermath. However, when it comes to a human life at stake on an operating table, can technology really come to the rescue?
Surgical Robots have increasingly become common in many hospitals across the country. The most common of the robots used in the medical field is the da Vinci system. The da Vinci system is “a three- or four- armed robot that surgeons operate with hand controls in a computer system several feet from the patient” (Tanner). But can the skills of a surgeon be so easily replaced by a machine? Though there are many benefits to saving time in surgeries, the cost of a human life is not worth the efficiency to sa...

... middle of paper ...

...an instrument that is more advanced than it should be in our current state of knowledge in the area.

Works Cited
Andrews, Michelle. "Questions Arise About Robotic Surgery's Cost, Effectiveness." Kaiser
Health News. N.p., 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Guthrie, Patricia. "Robotic Surgical System Under Scrutiny." Canadian Medical
Association Journal: n. pag. Science in Context. Web. 17 Apr. 2014
Tanner, Lindsey. "Robot Hot Among Surgeons but FDA Taking Fresh Look." Lincoln Courier.
09 Apr. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Apr. 2014
Mironov, Vladimir. "The future of medicine: Are custom-printed organs on the horizon? Medical researchers are creating robots that can bioprint new tissue and organs directly into patients' bodies while performing surgery--without assistance from doctors." Futurist Jan. 2011: n. pag. Science in Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2014

Show More
Related

  • William Nolen's The First Appendectomy

    296 Words  | 1 Pages

    Popular television paint a glorified image of doctors removing the seriousness of medical procedures. In the non-fiction short story, “The First Appendectomy,” William Nolen primarily aims to persuade the reader that real surgery is full of stress and high stakes decisions rather than this unrealistic view portrayed by movies.

    Read More

  • Lumbar Microdiscectomy

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frey, K. R. (2007). Surgical Technology for the Surgical Technologist. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

    Read More

  • The Discovery and Controversy over the First Use of Surgical Anesthesi

    6191 Words  | 13 Pages

    Anesthesia, “We take it for granted that we can sleep through operations without feeling any pain. But until about 150 years ago, the operating room was a virtual torture chamber because surgeons had no way to prevent the pain caused by their healing knives.”

    Read More

  • Weapons of Word War I

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...t as those soldiers a century ago. Detecting and staying educated on new discoveries keeps our country prepared for future use.

    Read More

  • Essay On Powered Exoskeletons

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ases strain and likelihood of error which results in an increase in the time taken to perform the procedure. Computer assisted surgery uses computers for guiding and performing surgical intrusions in addition to pre-surgical planning. Robotic surgery or robotically assisted surgery overcomes the limitations of traditional Human-Machine Interfaces and enhance the abilities of surgeons during open surgeries. Moreover, there are numerous training simulators available to surgeons for practice and learning purposes.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Robotic Surgery

    1749 Words  | 4 Pages

    The focus of robotic surgery can be very debatable for many people in this environmental community. A brief introduction is given to the definitions and history of surgical robotics. The capabilities and merits of surgical robots are then contrasted with the related field of computer assisted surgery. A classification is then given of the various types of robot system currently being investigated internationally, together with a number of examples of different applications in both soft-tissue and orthopedic surgery. The paper finishes with a discussion of the main difficulties facing robotic surgery and a prediction of future progress.

    Read More

  • Christina Goldstein's Orthopedic Surgery

    289 Words  | 1 Pages

    Prior to my most recent surgery, I was in an unexplainable amount of pain. I would have rathered to use a bedpan than to get up and walk to the bathroom. The surgeon who scrubbed in on the surgery a week before was on vacation and was not able to check on me physically. Goldstein

    Read More

  • Career Profile: Surgical Technologist

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyday life in a hospital is complete and absolute chaos. There are doctors and nurses running everywhere to treat patients, ambulances coming through every so often, children and patients crying, and surgeons telling a family that their loved one did not make it. However, outside of all that craziness is an operating room (OR). A place filled with pressure, intensity, high hopes, and stress. There to help control the environment is a surgical technologist. While preparing patients for surgery, surgical technologists manage the equipment and operating room, follow the instructions of the surgeon, and ensure the safety of the patient.

    Read More

  • Da Vinci Surgical System Essay

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    I chose the Da Vinci Surgical system as my topic because I am interested into going to physical therapy or into the orthopedics field after undergrad. Surgical equipment is highly important due to the hundreds of accidents that happen and also the high percentage of diseases. As these incidents occur it is important to consider the safety of the patient when it comes to cutting into their bodies. With the invention of the Da Vinci Surgical system it helped with vision and different viewpoints of the patient’s body and also improves precision. It is important to have a machine or tool for more than one type of surgery, one to use on patients with different injuries or diseases. Overall, this surgical system helps improve and help further research how precise and how in control a surgeon can be.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Artificial Intelligence

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Artificial intelligence in medicine would provide medical professionals with a method of guaranteed analysis across different stages of disease development. There are robots already in operation that sew sutures and close surgical wounds with perfection. The mechanical hands performing the skill are a fraction of the size of a human finger, helping to remove the potential for mistakes.

    Read More

  • Nonconsensual and Consensual Human Testing and Experimentations

    2594 Words  | 6 Pages

    Experimentations on humans, even though essential for scientific progress, pose many ethical questions where we ask ourselves if we should continue disposing human bodies in the name of medicine. We hold the same old concern about a man’s obsession with knowledge where a discovery for the good of the majority might become a justifiable reason for exploiting one human being for the good of all.

    Read More

  • Technology is a Friend of Humankind

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Technology is important in our world today. Terry Tempest William’s “The Clan of One-breasted Women” is about women having breast cancer because of bomb testing from 1952- 1961 in Utah. In this case technology has a negative effect on the human race. On the other hand, “The Technology of Medicine” by Lewis Thomas is about money and the technology of medicine. There are three different levels of technology in medicine according to Thomas and they are “nontechnology,” “halfway technology” (582), and “technology of modern medicine” (583). It is obvious that technology benefits humankind with cures for diseases and prevention of sickness. Without technology, medicine would not be as advanced and there would not be as many medical procedures as there are today. By using technology, doctors have found out how to prevent certain diseases or viruses by immunizations. In fact, the human race needs to have technology to advance the medical field, as disclosed in Richard Selzer’s “Sarcophagus” about surgery, from the doctor’s point of view, showing all of the technology he uses during procedure. All these essays have examples on how technology benefits human kind. Therefore, technology is a friend of humankind, when used with restrictions, because it has made improvements in medicine and has proved its usefulness in hospitals.

    Read More

  • Technology in Education

    1681 Words  | 4 Pages

    Technology, as we all know, is helping and improving many disciplines of life. Technology, in Britannica Encyclopedia, is defined as the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life. (Britannica, 2009)

    Read More

  • The Future of Medical Science Is Now

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    The advances in modern medical science in the near future are dependent upon the advances of methods and procedures that by today’s standards are considered to be taboo and dangerous. These methods will not only revolutionize the field of medicine but they will be the forerunners to a whole knew way to treat people. For these advances to take place several key steps need to be taken both medically and politically. In this paper I will attempt to explain what methods and procedures will be the future of modern medicine, how these methods and procedures can benefit mankind, and finally what changes will be needed in the fields of medicine and politics.

    Read More

  • Technology and Medicine

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Technology has also helped medicine with the use of robots. At the Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jeff Lannigan oversees 1,300 prescriptions a day. [2] That is a huge amount of prescriptions. Now he has a new kind of help. Spencer is a one million dollar robot that dispenses prescriptions at speedy rates. It takes Spencer three and a half hours to do what it took pharmacists 24 hours to do. This new technology also eliminates the room for human error. This means that people will have the right medication every time. If you are a customer waiting for a prescription than this technology will defiantly better society. Some people say that this new technology will hurt society because it will eliminate jobs for pharmacists. This is not true. The article says, “Instead of spending the whole day dispensing medicines, pharmacists have time to do what they’re trained to do—take care of patients.

    Read More

More about Are Surgical Robots really the Future of Medicine?

Open Document