SURGEONS at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI), part of the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust are amongst the first in Europe to introduce pioneering robot technology to undertake surgery on patients.
The surgical robot, Versius is the first of its kind to be used at the Hospital to perform minimal access surgery (keyhole) for a range of colorectal procedures.
The cutting edge technology will benefit patients at the MRI by reducing their length of stay and improving recovery time, as well as making the procedure less strenuous on the surgeon.
The MRI is the third hospital in the UK to embark on the surgical robotic programme using Versius, designed and manufactured by CMR Surgical.
Dr Jon Simpson, Medical Director at Manchester Royal Infirmary said: “The introduction of Versius is an exciting step forward for our surgeons at the MRI, which will also benefit our patients by helping them to recover quickly – keeping them well and out of hospital.
“At MFT we are constantly trying to innovate with patient-centred treatments and the surgical robot will enable our surgeons to continue to deliver world-leading surgical training and care. Using robotic minimal access surgery more frequently will play an important role in this and Versius will be a critical tool for our surgical teams moving forward.”
The robot has multiple arms that are controlled by surgeons using a remote-control device connected to a screen in the operating theatre. The screen gives doctors a precise view of their movements by displaying the part of the body they are operating on.
Versius is designed to be easily moved between operating theatres and takes approximately 15 minutes to set up. This allows it to be used frequently, with one robot capable of performing hundreds of operations each year.