Dr. Shakuri-Rad highlights the connectivity of the da Vinci 5

The da Vinci 5 (DV5) robotic system was granted 510(k) clearance by the FDA in March 2024.¹ In this video, Jaschar Shakuri-Rad, DO, FACOS, highlights the connectivity benefits of the device as well as offers hope for future enhancements. Shakuri-Rad is a urologist, da Vinci robotic surgeon, and the medical director of robotic surgery at Mon Health Medical Center in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Video Transcript:

How is the DV5 system currently being used in your own institution?

Now that DaVinci has made this available, and as more institutions obtain it, our institution will be adding more and more of the DV5 systems, and not really adding more laparoscopic systems, perhaps, because it has that built in, again, [as] part of that cost saving. Due to the connectivity, it allows us to have more access across the health system. So if we have, for example, surgeons that may require consultation within the health system–let's say a general surgeon or gynecologic surgeon requires a urologic consult during a case, but the urologist is not available at that particular hospital, at least physically not available–then the DV5, through its hub feature, will allow us to connect and give access to both the surgeons and the patient and have multiple specialists essentially look over a case, thereby improving care. Otherwise, in a traditional setting, sometimes if there was a complication during a case and that particular surgeon that you need isn't available, then you have to do some damage control, perhaps close the patient up, send them for a consult to another hospital physically, and that's a lot more cost [and] a lot more trouble for the patient. Now, having this connectivity I think will improve upon some of those things.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I think as the system evolves, we're going to all learn a lot more about what it actually can do and push its limits. Like I said, it's a system that is still not being used to its maximum capability, which is exciting. That means we can continue evolving. It's like having an iPhone and having an app store where there can be millions of apps being developed. That's how I see it, is that many more applications of the system can be developed and just having that ability to do so is, I think, very exciting.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.

Reference

1. Intuitive announces FDA clearance of fifth-generation robotic system, da Vinci 5. News release. Intuitive. March 14, 2024. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://isrg.intuitive.com/news-releases/news-release-details/intuitive-announces-fda-clearance-fifth-generation-robotic