Italian surgeons perform endoscopic heart bypass:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Surgeons in Italy have performed a fully endoscopic heart bypass procedure using Intuitive Surgical's computer-controlled da Vinci surgical system. The San Matteo Hospital in Pavia is the fifth European centre to carry out the operation. The system is also used for laparoscopy and recently passed a US FDA panel review for such procedures (see Clinica No 864, p 16). Meanwhile, Mountain View, California-based Intuitive's main competitor, Computer Motion, of Santa Barbara, California, has received a US patent for its Heads-Up user interfaces, which convert the surgeon's head movements into system motion.