NHS Tayside bosses have unveiled a new weapon in their fight against cancer.
The huge robot surgeon is carrying out complex procedures, especially in harder to reach areas of the body.
Surgical staff at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee took delivery of the latest member of their team last year and recently completed their training with it.
The amazing robot enables a surgeon to operate on cancers more easily as it accesses hard-to-reach areas of the body by mimicking the surgeon’s hand movements.
It makes much smaller incisions allowing intricate procedures such as tumour and organ removal to be carried out with more precision.
It is treating patients for colorectal, upper gastrointestinal, urology and gynaecological cancers.
One of the first patients in Tayside was 69-year-old urology patient Stanislaw Szeszko who had treatment for prostate cancer.
His surgeon Professor Ghulam Nabi said: “The introduction of robotic assisted surgery for patients with prostate cancer is transformational in their treatment and recovery pathway.
“The benefits from using precision instruments and keyhole surgical techniques for patients are evidenced in reduced blood loss and time spent recovering in hospital.
“Patients who have had robotic surgery for complex cancer surgery are usually able to go home the day after surgery instead of spending almost a week in hospital.”
Szeszko is now recovering at home but was keen to share his experience of having robotic surgery.
He said, “I feel very grateful that I was able to benefit from this new type of surgery at Ninewells Hospital.
“I was not at all concerned about having the robotic assisted surgery as the entire procedure was fully explained to me.”
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