HELSINKI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL USES CUTTING-EDGE ROBOTS TO ASSIST SURGEONS Stop thinking of robots as the killers in science fiction movies. These robots could save your life. TEXT: DAVID J. CORD
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he Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Heart and Lung Center is a European pioneer in robot surgery. Antti Vento, the director of the center, says it is because robots bring clear benefits. “For the patient, robotic technology means reduced pain, faster recovery and better surgical outcome,” he explains. “The operation is less invasive, which means less strain and fewer complications.” Robotic systems such as the Da Vinci Xi and Stereotaxis Genesis are significant investments, but they can drastically improve efficiency and lower other hospital costs, such as for inpatient care.
”The robots at HUS will enable more complicated surgeries to be performed.” “Robotic-assisted surgery is increasing rapidly for esophageal cancer,” Vento says. “The conventional cardiac surgery is also changing. We install aortic valves by catheter and repair mitral and tricuspid valves. This requires a high-tech hybrid operating room with imaging equipment. The world’s first new-generation magnetic navigation device Stereotaxis has been installed at the HUS Heart and Lung Center summer 2020. Robotics enables physicians to treat complex arrhythmias that are difficult or may be impossible to treat otherwise.”
European center of excellence HUS is rapidly becoming a European center of excellence for robot-assisted procedures and minimally invasive surgery, particularly for pulmonary, cardiac and general thoracic and esophageal procedures. “Helsinki University Hospital is one of the largest esophageal surgical centers in Europe,” says Vento. “Our surgeons are trained in centers of excellence in the US and we have already acquired exceptional expertise in the surgical treatment of benign esophageal diseases with our old robot. The new Xi model makes it possible to perform the most difficult operations.” There is a tendency for the centralization of healthcare, particularly with specialist procedures. Helsinki is becoming a center of excellence not just for Finland, but for northern Europe.
More robot helpers in future
”Helsinki University Hospital is one of the largest esophageal surgical centers in Europe”, says director of the center Antti Vento.
If you want to learn more about the specialist medical care at HUS’s Heart and Lung Center, come to hus.fi/en.
With aging demographics, there is an increased need for surgeries on elderly patients. The robots at HUS will enable more complicated surgeries to be performed with minimal invasiveness, helping improve the patients’ quality of life as well as reducing the overall costs of healthcare to society. “Becoming a center of excellence requires work, multi-professional collaboration and a commitment to excellence,” says Vento. “Pulmonary surgery and robotic esophageal surgery are a top product that only Helsinki can perform in Finland, and there aren’t many hospitals who can do it in other Nordic countries either. We have invested very heavily in this technology and developing the needed expertise.” |
BUSINESS CLASS | HELSINKI-VANTAA EDITION | SUMMER 2022
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