Peel Me a Grape

My Favorite Father-In-Law (a little joke between us...he is and has always been my only Father-In-Law and I am his Favorite and only Daughter-In-Law) had surgery earlier this year. He sailed through the surgery and post-op healing with flying colors. He just turned 80 on July 20th.

His surgery was performed using the da Vinci Surgical System which is a sophisticated, robotic surgical system.

Using the most advanced technology available today, the da Vinci Surgical System enables surgeons to perform delicate and complex operations through a few tiny incisions with increased vision, precision, dexterity and control.

 

The surgeon sits at the console and the patient is on the operating table a few feet away. The surgeon then operates the surgical tools remotely as the others in the operating room watch what is happening on the video screen.

 

In April, the local hospital had the da Vinci Surgical System on display and an expert on hand to tell about the system and answer any questions.

 

 

The expert (who looked a little like Richard Dean Anderson of MacGyver) also let anyone "test drive" the system if they wanted to do so.

 

The Colonel, my In-Laws and I test drove the machinery. My Favorite-Father-In-Law thought it was interesting to operate the machine that operated on him.   

 

 

With very little instruction, I was able to sit at the console and manipulate the surgical tools that were a few feet from me. The tools moved the same way my fingers and wrists did. They were extremely responsive.

 

 

As I looked through the eyepiece of the console I saw a 3-D image of the tools and the items on the surgical table. I "operated" on the grapes.

 

I was able to pick up and peel a grape with the surgical tools shortly after I sat down...the machine was that user-friendly.

 

 

What an interesting and unique experience (all I need now is a degree in medicine and I will be well on my way to a god complex).