Robotic Surgery at The Ohio State University

[Light, upbeat music with flutes, piano, and percussion plays throughout the video. Drone footage of the hospital buildings at dusk and dawn. Operating room staff washing hands, preparing instruments for a surgical case]

Michael Meara, MD, MBA: My name is Michael Meara. I am the medical director for robotic surgery at The Ohio State University. I am a practicing general surgeon with specialties in minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery, and advanced therapeutic endoscopy.

Robotic surgery is actually, you know, frequently here referred to as robotic assisted laparoscopic surgery. And it's effectively utilizing an additional tool from minimally invasive surgery where a robot will dock to the patient. 

[Operating room staff scrubbed in, wearing masks, placing sterile drape over a surgical robot, cleaning an endoscope. A surgeon's hands operate the robotic controller. A man moves a robot arm at a patient's bedside

And we're able to perform laparoscopic procedures, with robotic assistance, that allows you to do things in a finer and more precise manner at times, and also enable some movements that may otherwise not be possible laparoscopically. Robotic surgery started at Ohio State in 1999.

[Old photographs: the first robotic procedure done at Ohio State by Scott Melvin, trainees practicing laparoscopic skills]

Bradley Needleman, MD: Minimally invasive surgery was really, in its infancy. Open surgery recoveries were still long. Patients were being admitted the night before with long hospital stays.

[Text on screen
Potential Benefits of Robotic Surgery
-Less blood loss
-Less pain
-Shorter hospital stay
-Quicker recovery time
-Quicker return to normal activities]

Minimally invasive approaches in many cases were equal to or superior, with shorter recovery with easier recovery with quicker return to function.

Michael Meara, MD, MBA: We actually purchased the first commercially available robot in the United States.

[Old video footage of a surgeon at an early generation robot console. Photograph of an Ohio State-branded daVinci XI Robot. A surgeon prepares to use the daVinci 5 console]

We have, at any given junction, had every single iteration of those robots that have been commercially available and purchased, and have actually been involved in some of the development and FDA approval studies of some of the newer generations of robotic technology. We are up to 12 to 14 specialties who are actively utilizing robotic surgery.

[Photograph of a surgeon and trainee sitting at surgical consoles being recorded with a cart of audiovisual equipment. A man places a surgical instrument on a robot. Drone shot of downtown Columbus at dawn. Operating room staff drive an endoscope through the body.

We have developed some of the procedures that are composing the research that has helped defining what the future of surgery looks like. You should come to Ohio State for robotic surgery because this is the place where we are training the next generation of surgeons and developing the next generation of surgical technologies.

[Text on screen
The Ohio State University
go.osu.edu/robotics]