BUFFALO, NY — A Buffalo-based international expert on robot-assisted surgical techniques has created the first-ever virtual instructional manual on robot-assisted surgery. The interactive guide, “Operative Manual of Robot-Assisted Urologic Surgery,” edited by Khurshid A. Guru, MD, will be made available for the first time at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, May 29, 2010 through June 3, 2010 in San Francisco, CA.
“Training is an absolutely vital component of any robotic-surgery program,” says Dr. Guru, Director of the Center for Robotic Surgery at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The best way to ensure successful patient outcomes is to make sure surgical teams are familiar with new and trusted techniques. And when you have leading surgeons performing novel techniques in step-by-step demonstrations, you’re really going to enhance the quality of learning.”
The four-part manual, available on DVD, incorporates video footage of 26 surgical procedures performed by world leaders in robot-assisted surgery, and chapters by leading international experts including Mani Menon, MD, of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, MI and Peter Wiklund, MD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Matthew Hayn, MD, a clinical fellow in the Department of Urology at Roswell Park, served as assistant editor.
In all, the manual features contributions by 31 surgeons from 16 medical institutions in the United States, Belgium, Sweden and Turkey, and covers four sections: Prostate Surgery; Bladder Surgery/Urinary Diversion; Renal Surgery; and Ureteral/Retro-peritoneal Surgery. It features a unique video-indexing feature that allows users to search for specific terms within a single segment or universally, across all content — the first time such a tool has been used in the context of a surgery-related publication.
“There are many textbooks and atlases of robotic surgery,” Dr. Menon writes in the foreword to the interactive guide. “This manual fills a unique niche, much the same way as the newly released iPad fills a niche in the world of personal computing.”
The project was made possible by a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation. The free DVD manual will be distributed upon request after its launch at the AUA’s 2010 meeting.
“Release of this virtual textbook extends our role as a leader in the field of genitourinary oncology,” said James Mohler, MD, Vice President for Translational Research and Chair of the Department of Urology at Roswell Park. “We’re thrilled about being able to share a tool that’s practically based but also takes advantage of emerging technologies.”
The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.
For more information about the American Urological Association (AUA) and its upcoming annual meeting, visit the AUA online at http://www.auanet.org/.
The manuals will be available in booth 2720 at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco May 29-June 1, 2010. Leading medical and simulation experts will be conducting free Skills Enhancement Workshops on robot-assisted surgery at the booth. For more information, see http://www.auanet.org/.
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Annie Deck-Miller, Senior Media Relations Manager
716-845-8593; annie.deck-miller@roswellpark.org