Seattle surgeon John Tschirhart flew into Fresno to observe Dr. Babak Eghbalieh remove a gall bladder via a tiny incision in the belly button using Community Regional Medical Center’s new dual console da Vinci^® Si HD robotic system.

Because of its expertise and volume, the hospital is one of about 20 in the nation that has been designated by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., the surgical robot’s manufacturer, as a training and case observation site for cholecystectomy, or single-site surgery for gall bladder removal.

Dr. Tschirhart was the first surgeon outside of Community’s medical staff and residents of the UCSF Fresno Program to sit at the dual console to observe exactly what the surgeon does as he manipulates the robotic instruments from across the operating suite.

Two surgeons required for collaborative surgery with dual console

Dr. Eghbalieh explained that set up for the robotic surgery takes a bit longer, but that the view through the console is in sharp three-dimensional high definition (HD), providing true-to-life images of the patient’s anatomy. For collaborative surgery with the dual console, two surgeons operate in concert. While one surgeon performs the primary tasks of the operation, the second surgeon assists. 

The gall bladder removal was one of several surgeries Dr. Tschirhart observed as part of training on the da Vinci."“Dr. Eghbalieh’s leadership and passion for da Vinci comes through strong and clear during a case observation visit.” Tschirhart said.

“You are on the cutting edge here at Community Regional. Everything that you can have with robotic surgery you have here,” said Megan Smith, a clinical manufacturer’s representative for the daVinci system.