Next Generation

Four days after Christine Fulara’s defective kidney was removed, the 70-year-old was taking walks around the block. Fulara had the U of C Hospitals’ first robotic operation, performed in early December by associate professor of surgery Arieh Shalhav with the new, $1.2 million Da Vinci surgical system. Instead of a big scar, she is left with only the marks on her belly from several small incisions. Da Vinci’s cluster of arms operated through two of the holes, and a tiny camera entered through another to give Shalhav a 360-degree view. Sitting a few feet away viewing the surgery through a console, Shalhav (bottom right) controlled the arms with glove-like sensors that picked up his hand movements. As a still-new technology, robotic surgery can take twice as long as conventional surgery and cost $2,000 more per operation. Savings come in post-op because of the shorter recovery time—a benefit that extends beyond the financial.

— Daniel Reinhard, '04

Photo by John Easton