For the first time, a neurosurgeon in Quebec has completed a procedure by removing a brain tumor from a patient, utilizing a three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging and a robotic arm. Dr. David Fortin performed the innovative surgery at the Sherbrooke University Hospital last fall.
The successful operation was then made public, once the patient had completely recovered. Since then he has operated on four more patients with the help of the robot, which was named Rosa. Rosa was manufactured by Medtech, a French company.
Rosa Robot
Fortin revealed that the robot acts just like a third arm, which was reliable and precise for the neurosurgeon. The robotic arm improves the safety of the extended and protracted movements during the operation, eliminating the fatigue factor. The robotic arm was not only easy to use, but also much less invasive for the patient. According to Fortin, the patient’s quality of life would also be preserved. He had used the robot along with the three-dimensional MRI, which showed the complete circuitry of the brain and also gave real time data about the brain. During the course of the surgery, the patient was woken up once for stimulating the brain. He mentioned that the complete tumor was removed only because of the three techniques and that a normal surgery would not have removed the entire tumor.
The Rosa technology had been used in North America for the first time in a Cleveland hospital and then in the hospital at Sherbrooke. This robotic arm, which was worth $600,000 was being tested currently and a series of operations would be conducted, after which Dr. Fortin and the hospital authorities would take a decision on its purchase. Dr. Fortin is the Chairman of the Canadian Treatment of Brain Cancer and he also heads the neuro-oncology clinic at the CHUS in Sherbrooke.