Q&A: William E. Kelley; December 2000; Scientific American Magazine; by David Pescovitz; 1 Page(s)

Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System consists of a cart outfitted with mechanical limbs that end in pencil-size, teleoperated surgical tools and a high-resolution camera. Inserted into the patient through tiny incisions, the instruments are controlled by a surgeon wielding joysticklike levers. The robot digitally mirrors the surgeon's hands while scaling down his or her motions and removing any tremor: to the surgeon at the helm,an artery is like a garden hose. The first person to put the $1-million da Vinci to work after its July clearance by the U.S.Food and Drug Administration was William E. Kelley of the Richmond Surgical Group in Virginia.He has since performed several dozen gallbladder removals, hernia repairs and other operations with robotic assistance.-D.P.

Q: What is the biggest benefit of robot-assisted surgery? A: The biggest advantage is that it allows us to do complex and intricate surgical maneuvers much more precisely than we could do with either laparoscopy or open surgery. For instance, sewing is one skill in laparoscopic surgery that many surgeons have difficulty with. This enables me to make sutures in very difficult positions at awkward angles.You really can't reproduce the techniques with traditional instruments.