Robotic Surgery

What is robotic surgery?

Robotic surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery. "Minimally invasive" means that instead of operating on patients with large incisions, we use tiny surgical instruments that fit in an incision of just half a centimetre.

Our Clinic is equipped with the latest type of robotic system — the da Vinci Xi — the most advanced surgical robot in the world. It allows tiny instruments and cameras to be placed on three separate robotic arms, giving the surgeon maximum range of motion and accuracy. Da Vinci's fourth arm contains an enlarged high-definition 3-D camera that guides the surgeon through the procedure. Dr. Mertziotis and his team are specialised in robotic urological surgery for all indicated procedures.

How it works

The surgeon controls the instruments and camera from a console located in the operating room. By placing his fingers on the main controls, he can simultaneously operate all four of da Vinci's arms while looking at a high-definition stereoscopic display that literally places him inside the patient — giving a better, more detailed 3-D image than the human eye can offer.

Every move the surgeon makes with the main controls is copied and executed exactly by the robot. When needed, the surgeon can even adjust the scale of the robot's movements: if he chooses a three-to-one scale, the tip of the robot's arm will move just 2.5 cm for every 7.5 cm that the surgeon's arm moves.

Due to the design of the console, the surgeon's eyes and hands are always perfectly aligned with the view of the surgical area, thus minimising surgeon fatigue. The final result is to allow the surgeon unprecedented control in a minimally invasive environment.

Benefits for patients

Using this advanced technology, Dr. Mertziotis and his team can perform an increasing number of complex urological procedures. Since these procedures can now be performed with very small incisions, our patients experience many benefits compared to open surgery: