Project Associate Professor Yuichi Ookata of the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine and his team successfully performed surgery to remove an adrenal tumor from a school-age patient using Japan's first domestically developed surgical support robot, "Hinotori." This is the first successful surgery using Hinotori in the world. It is expected that the introduction of robot-assisted surgery to children will expand the options for pediatric surgical patients.

 According to Kobe University, Hinotori is the first domestically produced surgical support robot, developed by Medicaroid, a joint venture between heavy industry manufacturer Kawasaki Heavy Industries and medical equipment manufacturer Sysmex, and has been on the market since 2020. The arm that performs the surgery is designed to be shaped like a human arm.

 The surgery using Hinotori was performed at Kobe University Hospital in Chuo Ward, Kobe City, and was conducted by Project Associate Professor Ookata after a simulation was conducted using image data of the target patient to confirm that it functioned safely. The patient's postoperative progress is said to be good.

 Surgical robots are expected to be able to operate more precisely than humans without shaking hands, and to operate using high-definition 3D images, which will reduce bleeding and reduce complications. For this reason, they are being developed in countries around the world, and the number of surgeries being performed is increasing.

 Generally, these devices are developed with the adult thoracic and abdominal cavities in mind, so when used in surgery on pediatric patients, there are issues with the limited range of operation and safety. Furthermore, there are few surgical procedures covered by insurance for children, and the number of surgeries required to keep medical facilities running is not enough to keep them in business, which has hindered their widespread use.

reference:[Kobe University] World's first successful pediatric surgery using domestically developed surgical support robot "hinotori"

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