Heart surgery experts from China and the United States have joined hands in performing heart surgery with the assistance of a robot called Aesop.
The operation on Monday was the first robot-assisted surgery in China's mainland.
No blood, nor out-body circulation, the surgery only took an hour and a half before doctors declared the operation a success.
During the operation, Aesop cut open three small holes between the ribs of the patient measuring only 0.5 centimeters across, and made preparatory work for the bridging surgery like blood vessel separation.
The robot also helped to enlarge the vision of the critical juncture by 10 times to facilitate the operation.
Designed by the American Computer Motion, Aesop is currently the most advanced supplementary device in heart surgery.
So long as a voice card, carrying various orders recorded, is inserted into the robot before the operation, it will move at the vocal command of surgeons.
As robot-assisted surgery will not cut apart the breast bone, and moreover will leave a cut of only five centimeters instead of the usual 20 centimeters, this surgery undoubtedly brings less pain to the patients.
(Xinhua 11/14/2000)
