The first robot-assisted surgeries using 3D vision have been carried out at a city’s hospital.
The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle has used the system, which is controlled manually by a surgeon, on about 17 patients needing bowel cancer treatment and some smaller abdominal operations.
The North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC), which runs the hospital, said the technology allowed surgeons to be more precise, meaning less pain and quicker recovery for patients.
The hospital’s colorectal consultant and surgeon Chris Rao said he hoped 90% of the trust’s keyhole operations would be done with a robot “within a short space of time”.
The da Vinci Xi robotic‑assisted surgical system has been used across England for more than a decade, but it is new for the trust.
NCIC said it hoped to also introduce a robotic system at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven in the “near future”.
“People in Cumbria really deserve to have the same quality of care people everywhere elsewhere in the country have,” Rao said.