'Robot-aided microsurgery addresses human limitations'

The University of Hong Kong said two of the world's first microsurgeries were among 48 performed this year using a new robotic assistant. The robot-assisted liver transplantation and trans-hairline robotic microsurgery were performed with the new technology, and patients showed no sign of long-term complications. "Microsurgery is one of the most demanding and technically challenging surgical procedures," said Dr Velda Chow, clinical associate professor of the Department of Surgery at HKU. Chow spoke about human limitations such as hand tremors, which limit the number of surgeons capable of performing these procedures. "The robot addresses some of the human limitations," she said. "The advantage is the precision." Robot-assisted microsurgery also helped to reduce fatigue among surgeons during long operations and address manpower issues. "We can train younger surgeons more efficiently, so that we have a bigger pool of capable microsurgeons, which can, in turn, hopefully shorten the waiting time, and more patients will benefit in the long term," Chow said. Edited by Edmond Fong