Henry Ford News Feed - Urology

Free Prostate Cancer Screenings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Dwight Angell (313) 876-2882 dangell1@hfhs.org Sep. 10, 2008 Henry Ford Hospital Offers Free Prostate Cancer Screenings DETROIT- Henry Ford Hospital is offering free prostate cancer screenings to the public from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at the Vattikuti Urology Institute clinic. The hospital is located at 2799 W. Grand Blvd. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 186,320 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States and 28,660 men will die of this disease this year. But early detection can save lives. More than 2 million men in the United States who have had prostate cancer are alive today. To schedule a screening or for more information, contact (313) 916-2062 or (313) 916-2077. ###

Henry Ford Vattikuti Urology Institute Presents Symposium

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Maria Seyrig July 21, 2008 (313) 874-4039 mseyrig1@hfhs.org Henry Ford Vattikuti Urology Institute Presents the 2009 International Robotic Urology Symposium DETROIT – Robotic surgery is an exciting and emerging frontier in the field of surgery with tremendous advances being made every day. It is important that physicians and other health care providers keep abreast of this new technology, its limitations and the possibility of incorporating it into day-to-day surgery. To help clinicians achieve this, Henry Ford Vattikuti Urology Institute will present the 2009 International Robotic Urology Symposium, Jan. 12-14, 2009 at the Bellagio® Resort in Las Vegas. "At the Henry Ford Vattikuti Urology Institute, we had a significant vision back in 2001: We believed robotic surgery would be a safer and more precise method of attacking prostate cancer. Within eight years, urologists and other surgical specialists have applied robotic techniques to a variety of other procedures. The result has been tremendous improvement in the treatment of thousands of patients. We believe this is the dawn of a new era in surgery,” says Mani Menon, M.D., FACS, director of Henry Ford Hospital’s Vattikuti Urology Institute. “I am pleased present the symposium which will be packed with presentations, techniques and insights from the foremost minds in robotic surgery.” The three-day advanced robotic symposium will provide the ultimate informative experience for health care professionals with both basic and advanced knowledge. Attendees will: • View numerous live 3-D robotic surgery broadcasts and participate in dry clinic discussions and debates. • Interact with internationally renowned faculty in robotic prostatectomy, female urology, gynecology, kidney, pediatric urology, and adrenal and single-port laparoscopy. Pioneering surgeons will share their strategies, results and lessons learned on the spectrum of robotic surgery techniques. • Be eligible for abstract submission and to present your work through either poster or video format presentations. Prizes will be awarded to the best posters and videos. • Have the opportunity to attend specialized and intensive courses covering robotic pediatric urology, gynecologic surgery, kidney surgery, radical cystectomy and urinary diversion, operating room management for robotic surgery and the economics of robotic surgery. Post-conference live surgical experience options, including hands-on training with the da Vinci® Surgical System, also will be available. For more information, visit henryford.com/irus or call (313) 916-0006. ###

ORLive Presents: da Vinci(R) Surgery for Kidney Disease from Henry Ford Hospital

OR-Live.com and Henry Ford Hospital will present a live Webcast of a da Vinci(R) (Robotic) Partial Nephrectomy from the Henry Ford Hospital's Vattikuti Urology Institute on December 6, 2007 at 5 PM (ET). Craig Rogers, M.D., Director of Robotic Renal Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital and Director of Urologic Oncology at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, will perform this minimally invasive procedure using the da Vinci(R) S(TM) Surgical System. James Peabody, M.D., Senior Staff Surgeon of the Vattikuti Urology Institute, will moderate this event to explain critical portions of the surgery and answer e-mail questions from viewers. da Vinci(R) (NASDAQ: ISRG | charts | news | PowerRating) is a breakthrough robotic system designed to transcend the limitations of both traditional open surgery and conventional laparoscopy -- thereby expanding the surgeon's capabilities and providing patients a minimally invasive option for many complex procedures. da Vinci(R) Partial Nephrectomy represents a state-of-the-art, minimally invasive approach to surgically remove kidney tumors while preserving healthy renal tissue necessary for normal kidney function. The da Vinci's high-definition 3D vision system, fully wristed instrumentation, intuitive motion and ergonomic design provide unsurpassed visualization, surgical dexterity and control. This allows the surgeon to perform all the steps of a partial nephrectomy -- including careful dissection, tumor identification and excision, and renal capsule reconstruction -- with far greater surgical precision, ease and efficiency compared to conventional laparoscopy. Currently, most surgeons remove kidney tumors with an open incision and at times choose to remove the entire kidney, rather than only the diseased portion, due to the limitations of conventional laparoscopic technology and the complexity of the operation. One of the biggest challenges in performing a successful partial nephrectomy procedure is that the surgeon must excise the tumor and reconstruct the kidney in less than 30 minutes in order to preserve normal kidney function. This is because blood flow to the kidney is restricted during this stage of the procedure. However, using the expanded capabilities provided by the da Vinci System, urologists can now quickly identify renal tumor boundaries and perform what may be one of the most precise and meticulous partial nephrectomy procedure available today -- reproducibly and more safely -- in a minimally invasive fashion. According to Dr. Rogers, the da Vinci System provides better access to difficult tumor locations while giving the surgeon greater precision and control for complex surgical dissections and reconstructions. Moreover, suturing with the da Vinci System is significantly easier and quicker. This benefit is important for partial nephrectomy as suturing is used extensively when reconstructing the renal capsule. When compared to an open surgical approach, da Vinci Partial Nephrectomy offers patients the potential for shorter hospital stays (1.5 day versus 4 days, according to Dr. Rogers), significantly less post-operative pain, less blood loss, fewer complications, a quicker recovery, and less scarring due to small incisions. Based upon his clinical experience of more than 150 da Vinci procedures, Dr. Rogers believes that da Vinci Partial Nephrectomy can provide patients with "an outstanding cancer operation with maximum potential for normal kidney function." Henry Ford Hospital's Vattikuti Urology Institute has a history of innovation in urologic robotic surgery. Dr. Mani Menon, Director of the Institute, was an early pioneer in the field of robotic urology and developed the Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy (VIP). Dr. Menon and other surgeons at Henry Ford have performed over 3,500 VIP procedures for robotic-assisted surgical treatment of prostate cancer since 2001, more than any other facility in the world. About Intuitive Surgical, Inc. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG), headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is the global technology leader in the rapidly emerging field of robot-assisted, minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Intuitive Surgical develops, manufactures and markets robotic technologies designed to improve clinical outcomes and help patients return more quickly to active and productive lives. The company's mission is to extend the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to the broadest possible base of patients. More information is available at www.intuitivesurgical.com and www.davincisurgery.com. Intuitive Surgical -- Taking surgical precision beyond the limits of the human hand(TM) About the da Vinci(R) Surgical System The da Vinci Surgical System is a sophisticated robotic platform designed to enable complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach. The da Vinci System consists of an ergonomic surgeon's console, a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms, a high-performance vision system and proprietary EndoWrist(R) instruments. Powered by state-of-the-art robotic technology, the da Vinci System is designed to scale, filter and seamlessly translate the surgeon's hand movements into more precise movements of the EndoWrist instruments. The net result is an intuitive interface with breakthrough surgical capabilities. By providing surgeons with superior visualization, enhanced dexterity, greater precision and ergonomic comfort, the da Vinci Surgical System makes it possible for more surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures involving complex dissection or reconstruction. This ultimately raises the standard of care for complex surgeries, translating into numerous potential patient benefits, including less pain, a shorter recovery and quicker return to normal daily activities. The presentation described is for general information only and is not intended to substitute for formal medical training or certification. An independent surgeon, who is not an Intuitive Surgical employee, provides procedure descriptions. Intuitive Surgical trains only on the use of its products and is not responsible for surgical credentialing or for training in surgical procedure or technique. As a result, Intuitive is not responsible for procedural content. While clinical studies support the use of the da Vinci Surgical System as an effective tool for minimally invasive surgery, individual results may vary. Surgery with the da Vinci Surgical System may not be appropriate for every individual. Patients should ask their doctors about all treatment options, as well as their risks and benefits. Intuitive(R), da Vinci(R), InSite(R) and EndoWrist(R) are registered trademarks of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. www.intuitivesurgical.com www.davincisurgery.com Visit: http://www.or-live.com/daVinci/1725 to learn more about kidney disease and view a program preview. VNR: http://www.or-live.com/rams/ins-1725-mkw-q.ram Video-Link Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=630466 Contact: Alex Fraser Director of Marketing OR-Live, Inc. 860-953-2900 x 214 afraser@orlive.com Dwight Angell Director, Media Relations Henry Ford Health System 313-876-8709

Henry Ford Hospital Completes 3,000th Robotic Prostatectomy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (313) Contact: Dwight Angell (313) 876-8709 Physician at the Vattikuti Urology Institute have successfully completed 3,000 robotic prostatectomies, more procedures than any other hospital in the world. The Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital has three da Vinci™ computer-enhanced, minimally invasive surgery systems used to perform robotic prostatectomies as well as other procedures. The newly purchased third robotic system is in High Definition. “This advanced technology has enabled us to provide a highly effective and efficient procedure for treating prostate cancer, while improving the quality of life for patients,” says Mani Menon, M.D., director of Henry Ford’s Vattikuti Urology Institute. Patients have come from all 50 states and more than two dozen countries to undergo the procedure. In the hands of VUI surgeons, robotic surgery lowers the risk of impotence, pain, blood loss, risk of incontinence, and recovery time, compared with the traditional radical prostatectomy. With traditional radical prostatectomy, people are usually in the hospital for between two and three days. With robotic prostatectomy, most patients are discharged one day after surgery. Patients who underwent a robotic radical prostatectomy had significantly better erectile function outcomes than those who received conventional nerve-sparing surgery - without compromising cancer control, according to a year-long study conducted by doctors at the Vattikuti Institute. In the robotic procedure, which was developed at the Vattikuti Urology Institute, doctors use a robotic arm to perform the surgery. Using a tiny camera at the end of one laparoscope, the surgeon can operate miniaturized instruments at the end of other laparoscopes, all from a remote console with a 3-D view. This allows the surgeon an unprecedented view of the surgical site. The surgical site is magnified 35 times, enabling the surgeon and team to have better control with the instruments and increase ability to identify areas where the cancer may have spread. The technique, developed by the Ford team, preserves the prostatic fascia, which improves the quality of nerve preservation during the robotic prostatectomy. Henry Ford Hospital, already the established leader in robotic surgery for prostate cancer, now performs robotic surgery on kidneys. The hospital has performed more than 50 robotic kidney surgeries since the program began last year. Henry Ford Hospital is among a handful of facilities in the United States that are currently performing kidney surgery using robotic technology. Some complex operations are done only by Ford surgeons.

Robotic Prostatectomy Protects Sexual Function

Patients who underwent a robotic radical prostatectomy had significantly better erectile function outcomes than those who received conventional nerve-sparing surgery - without compromising cancer control, according to a year-long study conducted by doctors at Henry Ford Hospital’s Vattikuti Urology Institute.

The results should help ease men’s concern as to the future of their sex lives when faced with a radical prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the prostate and surrounding tissue, one of the most effective prostate cancer treatments.

“The potency outcomes with our robotic surgery are the highest reported to date,” said Mani Menon, M.D., director of the Vattikuti Urology Institute. “Of the patients undergoing the procedure, 97 percent achieved erections strong enough for intercourse - with about half not requiring medication to do so.”

Sexual function was assessed by having the men fill out questionnaires a year after the operation.

The institute has performed more than 2,100 robotic prostatectomies, more than any other hospital in the world. The study is published in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of Urology.

While the main objective of a radical prostatectomy is cancer control, maintaining the patient’s quality of life is an important secondary goal. Many studies have shown that the most common factor which decreases quality of life is reduced erectile ability. While more conventional procedure leaves most men with some erectile function, many find their erectile ability has decreased.

In addition to lowering the risk of impotence, robotic surgery significantly reduces pain, blood loss, risk of incontinence, and recovery time, compared with the traditional radical prostatectomy.

In the robotic procedure, which was developed at the Vattikuti Urology Institute, doctors use a robotic arm to perform the surgery. The surgical site is magnified 35 times, enabling the surgeon and team to have better control with the instruments and increase ability to identify areas where the cancer may have spread. The technique, that the Menon team developed, and is not available elsewhere for the moment, preserves the prostatic fascia, which appears to improve the quality of nerve preservation during the robotic prostatectomy.

The procedure is performed in an operating room with three-dimensional technology and two 60-inch by 80-inch flat projection screens, along with advanced lighting and a data monitoring and intercom system. The surgical team works in 3-D wearing special polarized glasses.

Using a tiny camera at the end of a laparoscope, the surgeon can operate miniaturized instruments at the end of other laparoscopes from a remote console. Henry Ford Hospital has two da Vinci Robotic Surgical Systems that are used to perform robotic prostatectomies as well as other procedures.

Prostate cancer is the second most-common cancer in men next to skin cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 232,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year in the United States, and more than 30,000 men will die from the disease. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the country.

Henry Ford Hospital Creates Operating Room of the Future

Henry Ford Hospital has designed and built a new operating room with 3-dimensional technology that takes modern robotic surgery to new levels.

Surgical teams are now performing robotic surgery for prostate cancer with enhanced efficiency, comfort and communication using this unique technology. Aided by two 60-inch by 80-inch flat projection screens, advanced lighting, and a data monitoring and intercom system, the entire surgical team works in 3-D wearing special polarized glasses.

In traditional robotic surgery, only the surgeon, who sits at a remote console controlling tiny instruments, has a magnified view.

“This operating room is going to change the way operations are done. It is light years ahead of anything else that exists in the world,” says Mani Menon, M.D., director of Henry Ford’s Vattikuti Urology Institute.

“The benefit of everyone seeing in 3-D is they are all synchronized. Everybody sees the same thing and it increases surgical precision by a quantum leap.”

The enhanced technology also makes the operating room a powerful teaching tool, Dr. Menon says. Images from the operating room can be sent, in 3-D, anywhere in the world to help train other surgeons.

“When a pilot takes a 747 off the ground, even if he’s doing it for the first time, he’s practiced it 100 hours or 1,000 hours in a simulator. When a trainee does an operation, the 3-D screen virtually allows the assistants to do the same thing,” Dr. Menon says.

Dr. Menon says the “enhanced” reality operating room at Henry Ford is being used primarily for urological surgery. But it will be used in the future for other specialized procedures like heart, bariatric, vascular and orthopedic surgeries.

“I think for precision work, when tissue handling is very important, when a millimeter makes a difference, 3-D brings us that benefit,” Dr. Menon says. “Surgery is something that should be delicate and precise. It should be more like painting than construction work. And this OR helps you paint your way through an operation.” Currently, the operating room is being used to perform robot-assisted prostatectomy using the da Vinci™ computer-enhanced, minimally invasive surgery system.

Using a tiny camera at the end of one laparoscope, the surgeon can operate miniaturized instruments at the end of other laparoscopes, all from a remote console with a 3-D view. This allows the surgeon an unprecedented view of the surgical site. But up until now and the development of Henry Ford’s new OR, the surgeon at the console was the only member of the team with this unique view

Having performed more than 1,000 cases, the Vattikuti Urology Institute has performed more robot-assisted prostatectomies than any other hospital in the world. With this procedure, the patient’s pain, blood loss, risk of incontinence, impotence and recovery time in the hospital and at home are significantly reduced. With traditional radical prostatectomy, people are usually in the hospital for between two and three days. With robotic prostatectomy, most patients are discharged one day after surgery.

Henry Ford Hospital Completes 1,000th Robotic Prostatectomy

Henry Ford Hospital doctors at the Vattikuti Urology Institute have successfully completed 1,000 robotic prostatectomies, further solidifying them as the international leader in the field for having performed more procedures than any other hospital in the world.

The 1,000th patient, Robert Chesney, says he chose the robotic approach because of all the benefits it offered over other forms of surgery.

“When I found out I had cancer, I began to research the topic extensively,” says Chesney, 57, of Brighton. “As I learned about my options and began to interview doctors at other hospitals, I became discouraged because none of them really sold me on one procedure over another.”

Options that patients like Chesney have for removal of the prostate at most hospitals are conventional surgery, laparoscopic surgery, radiation treatment or seed implants.

“None of them seemed like viable options, so when I heard about the Henry Ford robotic approach, I was very intrigued,” says Chesney.

The procedure, developed by Mani Menon, M.D., director of the Vattikuti Urology Institute, uses a computer-enhanced, minimally invasive surgery that provides many benefits over conventional forms. Doctors use a robotic arm to perform surgery while looking at an image magnified thirty-five times. This improves control over the instruments and increases the ability to identify areas where the cancer may have spread.

Patients who chose robotic surgery over other options have less pain, fewer complications, shorter hospitals stays, faster recovery times, earlier return of urinary control, improved sexual function and less internal scarring.

Chesney met with Dr. Menon and other Henry Ford staff members and decided on the robotic procedure when he heard about all of the benefits.

“The medical advantages were enticing,” says Chesney. “But what really made the decision easier was the confidence I had in Dr. Menon and his staff. From the first phone call to the end of my surgery and beyond, they provided the highest level of care I could have asked for.”

Surgeons at the Institute developed the Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy (VIP) and were the first in the world to perform the procedure on an outpatient basis. On average, Henry Ford completes between 15 and 20 procedures per week.