Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS) is allowing doctors to operate on patients with previously deemed inoperable tumors. Developed by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine in 2004, TORS was designed to remove both both mid-stage cancers and benign tumors from the neck and throat. TORS gives surgeons the stability of a robot’s arms with the flexibility of human wrists. TORS involves the use of the da Vinci Surgical System, which enhances the capabilities of the surgeon by using four pea-sized flexible arms with miniature tools called EndoWrist instruments.
TORS has grown in popularity all across the country and is currently in use at hospitals such as Penn Medical Center, Johns Hopkins, University Hospital, and Weill Cornell Medical Center. There are many advantages to having this procedure compared to traditional open throat cancer surgery. Patients can have shorter hospital stays, reduced or no scarring in the area of operation, reduced needs for chemotherapy treatments, smaller chances of complications, low blood loss, and smaller chances of damaging surrounding tissue because of increased precision.
The main components of the da Vinci Surgical System are the Surgeon’s console and the bedside Robotic Cart. For TORS, there three arms are used. One arm has an endoscope at end, which is a 3D HD camera that magnifies the view of the field, and the other arms hold the tools. These EndoWrist instruments work by swiveling at bigger angles and in more directions than a surgeon’s wrist. They are entirely controlled by the surgeon’s hand movements, and the tools are scaled to be very sensitive so that they move at smaller increments than a surgeon’s hand, allowing more control.
Below is a video of a surgeon removing the skin off a grape using the da Vinci Surgical System.
And take a look at this video of another surgeon folding and throwing a paper airplane using the da Vinci Surgical System.
In the coming years, the price of a TORS procedure is expected to fall dramatically, and its use is expected to become even more widespread. Although TORS is less invasive and more effective than older trans oral treatments, there are still complications involved. TORS is a wonderful example of how technology and medicine are working hand-in-hand to produce more advanced, safer methods of saving lives.