Da Vinci surgical system reps make pitch to Beebe

It may be named in honor of an inventor born more than 500 years ago, but the $2.3 million da Vinci Surgical System is futuristic technology that was recently on display in Lewes as part of a sales pitch to Beebe Healthcare.

Michael Hodgkiss and Lisa Feist, company representatives, set up shop March 9 for seven hours in the lobby of Hotel Rodney. The boom-mounted, four-fingered, rollable apparatus is the most minimally invasive technology available, said Hodgkiss, adding that the company is based in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The system stands about 8 feet tall and includes a seated surgeon’s console that sits off to the side. The surgeon operates at the console while viewing a high-definition, 3D image inside the patient's body – think a seated virtual reality headset with finger-controlled joysticks and foot pedals below.

The da Vinci system has been in use since 1999, and there are 3,914 of them in use throughout the world, said Hodgkiss. This is the fourth generation, said Hodgkiss of the Xi model, which took about 45 minutes to set up.

Hospitals in Delaware are using the system, Hodgkiss said, noting four in Christiana Hospital in Newark, one in Bayhealth in Dover and, he said, there will be one in the new Milford Hospital being built on the southbound side of Route 1.

According to Hodgkiss, the da Vinci is somewhat similar to traditional laparoscopy, but there’s a significant difference in range and movement of motion. The da Vinci’s tools have a greater range of movement than the human wrist and unlike other others, the tools move in the same direction as a surgeon’s hands would move. He said the system has tremor-reducing technology and creates a bloodless surgical field, which allows for clarity during surgery and a reduced risk of infection afterward.

Hodgkiss said there are other robotic systems in use, but this is the only one being used in the soft tissue areas of the body. From mouth to rectum, he said.

At this point, said Hodgkiss, many of the world’s future surgeons are being trained in medical school on how to use this technology. In the not-too-distant future, he said, it will be hard to attract the top surgeons to a hospital if robotic systems like this aren’t available.

It’s unclear if the sales pitch made an impact on Beebe Healthcare. Rachel Mavity, Beebe Healthcare spokeswoman, said March 13 that the hospital was not ready to comment on the future of the da Vinci Surgical System at Beebe.