Sarasota Memorial Gets Preview of Medical Robotics

On Friday Sarasota Memorial Hospital got a glimpse of the future of medicine with the da Vinci Si Dual Console and Skills Simulator Robot, the next generation in minimally invasive robotic surgery. Yours truly, Sarasota Patch, was lucky enough to try out the machine (on rubber bands, you can stop worrying). This the third version of the da Vinci console.

"The goal is to make surgery less invasive," said da Vinci sales rep Trey Thomas. "What this does it gives surgeons the ability to offer minimally invasive surgery across the board in about six different specialities."

Many hospital employees were trying out the new console, which includes a four-arm console and a simulator. What this does, Thomas said, is to have two surgeons operating at the same time. 

The first da Vinci console debuted in 1999, the second in 2005. The console on display at Sarasota Memorial is the third generation, which debuted two years ago. 

Sarasota Memorial said it has two older versions of the da Vinci consoles.