'Remarkable' robot

Car enthusiasts will get a chance to test drive something they won't see racing down the highway but might instead see being steered by a surgeon in an operating room.

The da Vinci Surgical System, a robot used as a tool for surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries, will be on display at two Concours d'Elegance & Motoring Festival events -- at the Southern Belle Fashion Show from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at Windows on the Waterway and at the Motoring Midway event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn on Hilton Head Island.

Sponsored by Beaufort Memorial Hospital, the appearance of the robot aims to educate the public about what surgical technology is available locally.

That technology has had a profound effect on the lives of many women in the Lowcountry, including Alleen Porter, a single mother of two and the assistant principal of Joseph Shanklin Elementary School. Porter had suffered from heavy menstrual periods, endometriosis and fibroids for years. She had gone through abdominal surgery in the past, and when her gynecologist, Dr. Randy Royal, said she needed a hysterectomy, she thought, "No way, Jose," she said.

Even after Royal explained to her that the recovery period was so much shorter with the new technology, she didn't really believe it until she lived it. The St. Helena Island resident had planned to take 12 weeks off work for recovery. To her surprise, she was back to work in three weeks.

"It's a remarkable invention," Porter said of the da Vinci system. "I commend the person who has developed it. It is a godsend to women."

Porter said she only had to use one of her prescription pain pills after the surgery and only stayed one night in the hospital. Her surgery marks healed in about a week.

Porter's recovery is typical of patients who have surgery done using the robotic system, according to Nino DiMatteo, clinical representative for Intuitive Surgical, the company that manufactures the da Vinci. The high-tech system was put on the market in 2001 and was first used at Beaufort Memorial in June. So far six surgeons have used the robot and 44 procedures have been performed at the hospital. Twelve more are scheduled over the next month or so, DiMatteo said.

He said the approach offers benefits to both patients and surgeons. For patients, it not only leads to a much quicker recovery period and less pain, but also smaller incisions, less risk of infection and less blood loss than traditional procedures.

At the Concours events, DiMatteo will be on hand to show attendees how to use the robot. They will be able to learn how surgeons use the system's viewfinder to see 3-D images magnified 10 times. They also will see how the robot's "endowrist" technology works. This function allows surgeons to turn their instruments left or right or articulate up and down as a human wrist would but with even greater ability with its 540 degrees of movement.

Dr. Patricia Thompson, a gynecologist at Beaufort Memorial, said the robot offers surgeons more control, precision and accuracy. Thompson, who has been in gynecology for 15 years, said hysterectomies used to be a huge ordeal, but with the new technology, patients usually can go home from the hospital the next day and get back to work in two weeks.

"It allows us to be more precise with our surgery and so we can do harder surgeries easier," Thompson said.