After the surgical team places someone under anesthesia, the surgeon makes small incisions in the abdomen. There, the team inserts three or four small port sites, where they place tiny surgical instruments and a small, three-dimensional camera. The surgeon sits at a console with a 3-D screen and operates the surgical instruments. “(The console) allows those instruments to be maneuvered and steered with both hand motion and foot control,” Dr. Ost says. “And that translates into 7 degrees of freedom of robotic arm movement so that you’re minimally limited in how you operate.” The surgeon is in control of the operation at all times. The robotic system helps perform sensitive operations like prostatectomy, where the surgeon has to work in a very small space while protecting the surrounding nerves.