We began working with inanimate models to test this robotically assisted microsurgery. Damiano and his team are working with Computer Motion, Inc., of Goleta, Calif., to perfect the microsurgery. We have just finished our fifth successful coronary artery bypass procedure, and the progress has been excellent. All the calves lived through the procedure, and the bypass grafts were open. In conventional open-heart bypass surgery, a deep incision is made down the chest, and splitting the breast bone is necessary to allow visualization and access to the heart.
Recovery can take from a few weeks to several months.
With minimally invasive surgery there are no incisions, only ports the diameter of a pencil. During the procedure, the surgeon sits before a screen several feet away from the operating table and views the heart on a television monitor. The surgeon controls the instruments with specifically designed handles. The handles are connected to a computer which translates the surgeon's movements precisely to robotic arms attached to the operating room table. The robotic arms are perfectly steady, eliminating all tremors.