WEST CHESTER TWP. — West Chester Hospital is the latest local medical facility to get a state-of-the-art tool to provide surgeons with greater efficiency in the operating room.

The hospital recently began using the third edition model of the da Vinci Si Surgical System, which costs between $1.5 million to $2 million to begin using, said Jill Black, a clinical sales representative for Intuitive Surgical.

West Chester Hospital is one of about 14 hospitals from Dayton to the Northern, Ky., area with da Vinci systems, she said.

“Its becoming the gold standard for sure,” Black said.

The da Vinci Si has several unique features designed to provide additional clinical benefits and efficiency in the operating room. Hospital officials said that means having enhanced 3D, high-definition vision of an operative field , superior visual clarity of tissue and anatomy, surgical dexterity, and simplified user interface to enhance operating room efficiency.

The surgeon console is basically the hands and arms of the system, Black said while demonstrating it.

“This is where the surgeon has to interface and they’re putting their fingers in the master controllers to control the instruments. The benefits of the surgeon here is that the surgeon has 3D vision when they sit and look inside the console,” she said.

“Laparoscopy surgery is a tough procedure to learn because they’re now trying to do what they use to do with their hands with long straight instruments. Basically, their trying to do surgery with chop sticks and they have counter intuitive motions. (It) ... allows them to do it in a minimally invasive fashion.

“They feel like their doing open surgery, but the patient benefits by the minimally invasive surgery,” Black said.

The new da Vinci Si System will help the hospital provide the best possible outcomes for our surgical patients, said West Chester Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Joseph, MD.

“Da Vinci’s advanced level of technology take surgery beyond the limits of the human hand and allows our patients the opportunity to recover from such procedures at an accelerated rate,” he said.

The da Vinci Si surgical system can be used for a multitude of procedures, including but not limited to prostatectomy, hysterectomy, myomectomy, coronary artery bypass, mitral valve repair and colorectal surgery.

Even though the robot comes with a hefty price tag, Black said the patient will not pay any more than the cost of traditional surgery.

The hospital has conducted five procedures so far with the robot and has set a goal of using the system about 60 times per month.

The hospital currently performs about 300 surgeries per month, said Dr. Thomas Harris, director of Perioperative Services.

Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson @coxohio.com.