Introducing an All-mechanized Surgical Assistant for Use in Reconstructive Surgeries

摘要

There is currently a critical lack of surgeons in many advanced countries, including Japan. A geographic shortage of plastic surgeons is also sometimes considered to be a social problem. The key to solving this issue depends on proper and thoughtful deployment of surgical resources and on how smoothly the medical education system can provide residents with appropriate educational opportunities. During surgeries, surgical assistants often do nothing but simple tasks such as keeping the surgical field clear and simply follow top-down orders throughout the operation. Performance of these activities is a waste of talent and time for an assistant who has similar or higher skills than the senior surgeon. Alternatively, if the assistant is at the training level, he or she rarely gets effective learning opportunities due to standing in a position from which it is not possible to see the surgical field clearly. This situation provides young surgeons with nothing but a very poor view and position from which to have new surgical ideas.