Abstract
As a current topic of interest, we report the utility of robot-assisted surgical navigation, using da Vinci, which is currently in operation in our department. In Japan, the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law regarding robot-assisted surgery was approved in 2009, which enabled us to perform robot-assisted prostatectomy for prostate cancer with coverage under the health insurance system from April 2012. As many as 180 units of robotic surgical systems are in operation in Japan this year, making Japan a robotic surgery Mecca, second only to the United States. Japan is by far the number one robotic-surgery-operating country in Asia. At the time of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy, in order to perform selective renal artery shut-off precisely, we conduct functional analysis of a medical image preoperatively, which provides us with a great deal of anatomical information during the operation. More specifically, a life-sized kidney model made by a 3D printer is very useful for this purpose. This model is based on the CT volume rendering image, and the 3D printer adopts a color-coded system in which tumor, kidney, and blood vessels are displayed with different colors. Surgical navigation and the 3D printer model in the case of partial nephrectomy enhanced our surgical performance and improved surgical safety.
