The Cutting Edge

Dr. Haq Brings His Expertise in Robotic Cardiothoracic Surgery to Bostick Heart Center

- TERESA SCHIFFER

THE FUTURE IS NOW! At least, it seems that way when we consider the incredible advances made in cardiothoracic surgery since Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery on a stabbing victim in 1893. Keep in mind that the use of modern anesthesia and antiseptics were still in their early stages at that point in time, making Dr. Williams’ extraordinary surgical achievement all the more noteworthy. The patient not only survived the operation but went on to live for more than 20 years afterward.

By the 20th century, surgeons may have had access to anesthesia and antiseptics, but they were still a long way from where they are now. Medical technology continued to advance, though. X-rays were introduced as valuable diagnostic tools, the discovery of blood types made transfusions safer, and the development of antibiotics radically improved patient outcomes as infections could be controlled and treated much more easily.

Modern surgery is now monitored and facilitated by many different types of machines and equipment, which now includes cutting-edge robotic devices. In 1985, the first active robotic device was used in a live surgical procedure when an industrial robotic arm was modified in order to conduct a stereotactic brain biopsy on a patient. What was once only imagined in science fiction stories had become a mainstream reality.