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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9 F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E e technology also facilitates recruitment, he adds. In the past year, Central Maine Healthcare brought in new bariatric surgeons, gastroentero- logical and plastic surgeons. "People have a lot more experience using robots as part of their training, which didn't happen five or 10 years ago," he says. MaineGeneral has put on events to educate the public about the technology. at included bringing a demonstra- tion model twice to Taste of Waterville events. People enjoyed trying it out, says Marketing and Communications Director Joy McKenna. "Because it's a console, and the way they see the visual on a monitor, we found kids loved getting in there," she says. "To them it was almost an exten- sion of video games. And their parents talked with the surgeon. So it was a neat way to educate the community." Future advances Reight and others envision continued advancement. "e current robot is an amazing tool," says Reight. Advancements could include ever-smaller incisions and ever- greater control of the instruments, he says. en there's potential for develop- ing "haptic feedback." "When you're using the robot, you don't have sensation in the fingers," Reight says. "You're making judgments based on what you see, which is fine because of the 3D view. Haptic feedback means the system will transmit informa- tion to your fingertips." When might that be? "I don't know," he says. "We've come so far in 10 years. Who knows what the next 10 years will bring?" Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz "Competent, dependable, honest and friendly. The pros at Bowman Constructors have a gift for always exceeding expectations." - Mark Wellman www.bowmanconstructors.com 207.368.2405 info@bowmanconstructors.com 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 Dr. Ian Reight demonstrates the da Vinci robot, made by Intuitive Surgical Inc., in Waterville. What happened to me was much like what happened to many surgeons throughout the U.S. In learning to do it well, we proved it's an incredibly valuable tool for minimally invasive surgery. — Dr. Ian Reight MaineGeneral