Surgery in the City
Dr. Robot: Telementoring and Telerobotic Surgery

According to Time Canada, some 10 million Canadians live outside large urban areas, with limited access to medical specialists. Mehran Anvari, professor of surgery and Director of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery is “sculpting the next frontier of medicine,” a new frontier that will provide surgeons and their patients access to leading medical experts, whether they live hundreds, or even thousands, of kilometres away from a major medical centre.

Telementoring connects surgeons across Canada by using two-way video to facilitate sharing surgical knowledge. Telementoring provides the capability for experienced surgeons to guide and advise surgeons in rural and remote regions of the country.

Telerobotic Surgery allows surgical experts to physically assist in procedures that are taking place in operating rooms in rural or remote regions of the country. Telerobotic surgery involves the use of sophisticated three-arm robots to seamlessly and directly translate the surgeon’s natural hand, wrist and finger movements into corresponding micro-movements of instrument tips positioned inside the patient.

Telementoring and telerobotic surgery are revolutionary new technologies pioneered here in the heart of Hamilton. On Tuesday April 8, Dr. Anvari will discuss these exciting new technologies and their vast potential for changing the face of health care in Canada.