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V O L . X X V N O. X X S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9 16 H E A LT H C A R E F O C U S W hen Dr. Ian Reight arrived as a general surgeon at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, in 2012, he and his team began to explore the use of robotic surgery. He counted himself among the critics. "I started to do robotic surgery to prove it wasn't very good," he says. "I wanted to prove that laparoscopy was better and faster. I was a big robotics naysayer." But the technology, relatively new at the time, got the upper hand. "What happened to me was much like what happened to many surgeons throughout the U.S.," he adds. "In learning to do it well, we proved it's an incredibly valuable tool for mini- mally invasive surgery." Now Reight chairs the robotics surgery program. "Over the past six years, we have averaged a 22% increase annually," he says. "We continue to look at ways to innovate. It's better than open surgery and laparoscopic surgery in selected cases." Console control Reight's experience reflects a growing adoption throughout Maine of surgical robots. e technology is an evolu- tion of laparoscopic surgery. Both use tiny incisions, tiny video cameras and special surgical instruments. But surgical robots provide a computerized assist to laparoscopic procedures, using advanced instruments and a three-dimensional, high-definition view of the surgical area. Some surgeons liken the technol- ogy to video games because it involves manipulating instruments from a control console rather than directly by hand. e use is still evolving and is seen as having great potential for additional applications as the hardware and soft- ware become increasingly refined and as surgeons innovate new uses. Experts agree there are numer- ous benefits, including faster recovery time, fewer complications and fewer conversions to open surgery. at, in turn, potentially lowers patient and hospital costs. One medical device company domi- nates the industry. Intuitive Surgical Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., launched the da Vinci surgical system in 1999. It's produced several generations since then, according to its website. e system consists of several com- ponents. A surgeon sits at a console, or control center, and can view the surgical field through a miniaturized, highly magnified 3D camera while controlling movement of surgical instruments. A bedside cart includes hinged mechanical arms, the camera and the instruments. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E G E N E R A L The robotic arms of the da Vinci robot that is at the Thayer Center for Health in Waterville. Dr. Ian Reight sitting at the control console. A game MaineGeneral uses to show the abilities of the robot to the public. A monitor shows what Dr. Reight sees at the console. Robots bedside at the Hospitals are adopting surgical robots, but how far will the trend go? B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r

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