Feb 3 2015
Surgeons at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) are among the first in New Jersey to perform minimally invasive robotic surgeries using the da Vinci Xi Surgical System, the latest generation of robotic minimally invasive surgery technology. The da Vinci Xi offers surgeons enhanced visual technology, broader capabilities and improved instrument control.
“Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has a long and proud history of offering the latest minimally invasive surgical techniques to benefit our patients at our New Brunswick and Somerset campuses,” says David Fernandez, Vice President of RWJUH’s Cancer Hospital, Perioperative Services and Neuroscience Center. “We are excited to bring the da Vinci Xi to our academic medical center and expand the range of minimally invasive surgical capabilities we can offer patients while giving our surgeons the technology they need to advance this discipline.”
By enabling efficient access throughout the abdomen and chest, the da Vinci Xi System expands upon core da Vinci System features, including wristed instruments, 3D-HD visualization, intuitive motion, and an ergonomic design. As with all da Vinci Surgical Systems, the da Vinci Xi System's immersive 3D-HD vision system gives surgeons a highly magnified view, virtually extending their eyes and hands into the patient.
The da Vinci Xi System's key features include:
- A new, overhead instrument arm architecture designed to facilitate anatomical access from virtually any position.
- A new endoscope digital architecture that creates a simpler, more compact design with improved visual definition and clarity.
- An ability to attach the endoscope to any arm, providing flexibility for visualizing the surgical site.
- Smaller, thinner arms with newly designed joints that offer a greater range of motion than ever before.
- Longer instrument shafts designed to give surgeons greater operative reach.
- The enhanced efficiency offered by the daVinci Xi’s can lead to shorter surgery times.
The da Vinci Xi System is an expandable technology platform that is designed to accommodate and seamlessly integrate a range of current technologies in areas such as imaging, advanced instruments and anatomical access, as well as future advances.
RWJUH surgeons are using the new technology to perform surgeries across a broad range of specialties including colorectal, gynecology, urology, thoracic and cardiac surgery, including minimally invasive robotic mitral valve repair.
Both RWJ New Brunswick and RWJ Somerset’s surgeons have extensive training in robotic surgery techniques and have performed a high volume of cases using the da Vinci robot. RWJ’s nurses also have completed specialized training in robotic surgery.
Surgeons on both campuses already perform a broad range of robotic procedures in the following specialties:
- Urology
- Radical prostatectomy
- Radical cystoprostatectomy
- Simple prostatectomy
- Extended pelvic lymph node dissection
- Pyeloplasty
- Radical nephrectomy
- Partial nephrectomy by trans and retroperitoneal approaches
- Renal cryoablation
- Bladder diverticulectomy
- Ureteral reimplantation
- Adrenalectomy
- Gynecology
- Hysterectomy (total)
- Supracervical hysterectomy
- Cystectomy
- Myomectomy
- Uterine Suspension
- Vaginal Vault Suspension
- Removal of one or both ovaries and/or tubes
- Endometriosis
- Excision pelvic mass
- Bariatric
- General Surgery
- Pyloroplasty
- Nissen Foundoplication
- Colovesical Fistula Repair
- Colectomy
- Hiatal Hernia Repair
- GIST Tumor Removal
- Gastrectomy, Partial
- Choledochodudenostomy
- Cholecystectomy
- Ileo-Colectomy
- Inguinal Hernia Repair
- Splenectomy
- Right Upper Quadrant Mass Removal
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is a 965-bed academic medical center with campuses in New Brunswick and Somerville, NJ. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, joint replacement, and women’s and children’s care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). As the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, RWJUH is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care. A Level 1 Trauma Center and the only Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.
RWJUH has been ranked among the best hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report seven times and has been selected by the publication as a high performing hospital in numerous specialties. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital has been ranked among the best hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report for three consecutive years.
Both the New Brunswick and Somerset campuses have earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Award for Nursing Excellence, an “A” patient safety rating from the Leapfrog Group and “Most Wired” designation by Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine. The Joint Commission and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services have designated the New Brunswick Campus as a Comprehensive Stroke Center and the Somerset Campus as a Primary Stroke Center.
The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer has rated RWJUH New Brunswick among the nation’s best comprehensive cancer centers and designated the Steeplechase Cancer Center at RWJ Somerset as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center. The Joint Surgery Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for total knee and total hip replacement surgery.