New robotic technology gives surgeons haptic feedback in UK first

Surgeons used robotic-assisted technology that offers haptic feedback for the first time in the UK.
The surgical instruments with ‘Force Feedback’ technology are now being used with the da Vinci 5 robotic system for colorectal, gynaecological and upper gastrointestinal surgeries.
It is hoped to enable gentler surgery and improve patient outcomes, with a growing body of evidence from the US reporting promising early results.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has 13 surgical robots and three diagnostic robots across its five hospitals, making it the UK’s largest centre for robotic-assisted surgery and among the largest in Europe.
The Trust’s surgical team began operating on patients using the da Vinci 5 in early April at St Thomas’, and another da Vinci 5 has more recently been added at Harefield Hospital. However, the robotic-assisted system at St Thomas’ is the first in the country to use the Force Feedback instruments provided by its manufacturer, Intuitive.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ clinical director for general surgery, Alexis Schizas, said the da Vinci 5 robot’s new Force Feedback features are the latest in a long line of robotic surgery advances at the Trust, ensuring patients can access the benefits of this new technology.
The Trust’s fleet of robotic-assisted surgical systems also improves surgeons’ efficiency, as the ergonomically designed control consoles support extended use, allowing them to perform more operations each day without fatigue.
Professor James Gossage (pictured), consultant upper gastrointestinal surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’, performed the first surgeries with the new Force Feedback instruments in October.
He said: ‘With the new Force Feedback instruments, we can now feel a sense of resistance within the hand controls on the console, so we get a better sense of whether we are exerting the right level of pressure on tissue as we operate.
‘This offers an even higher level of precision, which reduces trauma to the patient’s tissue. That means less bruising and inflammation, and it helps improve overall recovery and outcomes from the surgery.’