An increasing number of hospitals in Vietnam are adding robotic surgery to their medical arsenal, hoping the extra set of mechanical hands will help give their patients some much needed relief. Robotic surgery, computer-assisted surgery, and robot-assisted surgery are terms for technological developments that use robotic systems to aid in surgical procedures. In 2014, the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital in Hanoi was the first to deploy the U.S.-made DaVinci surgery system for children's endoscopic operations. Between 2016 and 2017, more modern versions of the DaVinci robot began appearing at Binh Dan Hospital and Cho Ray Hospital, both located in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi. Dr. Pham Gia Hien, head of the pediatric neurosurgery center of Vietnam National Children’s Hospital, stressed that this type of technology, despite its astronomical cost, is the future of surgery. A wonder tool for surgeons In February 2019, the People's Hospital 115 in Ho Chi Minh City amazed medical experts with a successful brain operation using a system known as Modus V Synaptive II from Canada. This state-of-the-art surgery tool cost US$2.3 million, and marked its host hospital as the pioneer in applying robotic assistance in neurosurgery. The equipment will aid the hospital’s staff with its 2,350 yearly neurological operations. On February 15, surgeons at the People's Hospital 115 spent a mere 1.5 hours performing a successful brain tumor operation on a female patient from Tay Ninh, a province neighboring Ho Chi Minh City. Such an achievement came with the expertise from Dr. Chu Tan Si - head of the nerve surgery department - who undertook training in the U.S. in 2017 and in Switzerland in 2018, and the assistance of Professor Amin Kassam - vice-president of neurosciences at Aurora Health Care, a U.S.-based non-profit health care network. "Thanks to the robotic system, operations can take place in a much shorter amount of time …
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