Welcome Video Part 2
Now, let's look at how da Vinci robotic surgery works with my own nerve-sparing techniques to provide the potential for exceptional outcomes when dealing with the complex array of nerves and muscles that control urinary and sexual function.
Traditionally, the nerves were always thought to be at the four and eight o'clock positions underneath the prostate gland. When we do the traditional open nerve-sparing surgery, that's where we spare these nerve tissues. There's some very exciting data out there now from, not only my own case series but other surgeons as well that do a lot of these operations, that there's some additional nerve fibers that sit on the sides of the prostate, underneath the prostate, back towards the bladder as well.
It's actually the optics of the robotics and the articulation of the instrument that allows me to do, in my opinion, a better nerve-sparing surgery than I could do with an open operation, sparing not just the traditional nerve fibers that sit down at that four and eight o'clock positions, but also sparing some of the smaller accessory nerves that sit up along the sides and underneath the prostate gland. These are nerves that we were not able to do as good a job sparing through the open operation. With the enhanced vision and dexterity of robotics, we're able to do a marvelous job sparing not just the larger nerve bundles, but even the accessory nerve bundles as well. Clinically, what I'm seeing, are better patient outcomes in terms of sexual function. How fast they get that function back. How reliable does that function come back, long term and short term as well.
The techniques that we're utilizing today now in robotic surgery for sexual function and urinary control preservation are different from what we used to do, and they're very technically advanced. Through my experience performing hundreds and hundreds of da Vinci prostate surgeries, I've been able to create these advance techniques and it's these nuances, the fine details that's allowing me to create the potential for exceptional patient outcomes.
When it comes to recovery of sexual function and urinary control, I don't think it ends in the operating room. Inspired of my commitment to my patients, I've created a comprehensive rehab program for recovering both sexual and urinary functions. This involves both pre-operative and post-operative rehabilitation that we outlined in our informational packet. We've created this informational packet that can be downloaded directly off our website, to help our patients better understand what to expect before, during, and after our operation. It details what they need to be doing before their surgery, and how our rehab program is going to help them after the operation to enhance their likelihood that they're going to get back to full function again.
One other way I'm working to enhance the lives of my patients after surgery is through this Survivor Newsletter. This newsletter goes out to the hundreds of patients I've operated on all over the world, and it's my way of trying to stay connected with my patients and helping them to deal with life after prostate cancer surgery. Urinary control, sexual function, and control over their outcomes are things that we work every single day to try to give back to our patients.
With enhanced vision and enhanced precision of da Vinci robotics, I work everyday not just to create enhanced outcome to my patients, but to create a better patient experience. That's why we've created our rehab program, that's why we have our Survivor Newsletter. We're working to create a better outcome for our patient emotionally, physically, personally. We want our patients to walk away with a better patient experience. The enhanced vision and precision of the robotics is allowing us to do that in the operating room, and my team, as well, allows us to do that after the operation is over.
da Vinci Process surgery is becoming the surgery of choice for patients of prostate cancer. While robotics is an exciting technology, it's the experience of the surgeon and team that create the patient outcome. When we talk about the prostate cancer operation, there's a number of stages involved in it. When a patient comes in to the operating room, they're put to sleep under general anesthesia so that they don't remember a thing and they feel no pain while the operation is happening.
As the surgeon, I then put in five ports. They're literally look like little portholes on a ship, and they're going to the belly. Once those ports are in, we roll the robot in and we dock it or lock it on to the patient. Once this docked on, I get to take off my gown and gloves and I sit down at the console. Now, the console is where I get to hold that amazing 3D vision and work with those small stereoscopic instruments that give me amazing dexterity inside the belly.
This is the da Vinci robot. It's made up of a patient-side console, which is this unit here, and a surgeon console that I will talk about in a moment. The robot, actually, has four arms on it. Each of the arms are going to attach other instruments or camera to do all the work on the inside. What I will do is I'll take small ports, like this one, and place it inside the body. Once inside the body, these ports attach to the robot. The robotic instruments are absolutely fantastic. We've taken enormous surgical tools and shunt them down and added an amazing wrist. We'll see that wrist in just a moment.
Compared to standard surgical tools, you can see the robotic instruments are a lot smaller and finer. The cameras are also quite amazing. Instead of having a normal television view, it actually gives us a 3D view. The way it does that is through this right eye and left eye. It's presented to my brain in such a way that I actually see it as a true, stereoscopic 3D magnified vision. Once attached, my instruments go inside and I get to sit down at the console to do all of my work.
This is where that happens. It's made of free special areas, each for my eyes, for my hands, and for my feet. The area from my eyes is two separate eye pieces, one for my right eye and one for my left eye. That would allow the camera to transmit that stereoscopic vision from the right eye of the camera to my right eye, and from the left eye of the camera to my left eye. When I look inside here, I can see 3D. This is the master control panel. This what allows me to decide not only which instruments are controlled by which hands, but it allows me to perform a more precise operation what my own hands will be able to do on their own.
It's through this one area right here called "scaling." I can scale my movements to no scale, fine scale, or ultra fine scale. By scaling my hand movements, I'm able to perform larger movements and the robot will translate it into smaller, more precised movements, allowing me to perform a more precise operation than my hands can do on their own.
This incredible technology has helped me produce some remarkable patient outcomes for the past several years. In addition, I've had the honor of sharing my knowledge, my experience, and my passion with other robotic surgeons from around the world, as well as learn the latest advances that are changing the way we do surgery.
My commitment to da Vinci robotic surgery goes beyond the operating room. I've been asked to create an international training center for advanced prostate cancer robotic surgery here in Austin, Texas. I've been invited to be a faculty member for the Annual World Robotic Neurologic Symposium. I've been honored to perform my technique live for the American Neurological Association's International Meeting two years in a row. We'll be doing it again for a third year in 2007, being able to showcase my technique for hundreds of neurologists from all over the world. I've been invited to lecture in over half a dozen countries.
This dedication to not just the procedure, but to continuing it to make it better, that's what it's really about. It's about not settling for good enough. It's about not settling for where we're at is good enough for our patients. We need to continue to look for ways to make this operation better. By being a part of all of these conferences, by lecturing around the world, by being at the thought leader sessions, I'm able to talk with the other leaders in robotics surgery all over the world. In doing so, we can all draw from each other's experiences and create a better way of doing the operation, continuously working to create better patient outcomes.
Now that we've learned about this amazing technology, let me show you on the Hospital of Westlake, and tell you why this is an amazing facility.