If you have urinary, heart, gynecology, thoracic and other general diseases, will you choose to use robots for surgery in urgent need of surgery? Da Vinci surgical robot 20 million, in China price is 3 times that of foreign countries, what is special about this robot? Why do hospitals spend so much money on it? It is reported that the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University has four da Vinci surgical robots, and the strength can be seen!
Recently, at the standing committee meeting of the Urological Oncology Special Committee of Henan Anti-Cancer Association, the world's largest hospital - the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Professor Zhang Xuepei's team announced that the number of single-person robotic surgeries exceeded 3,000. What is a one-man robot? What's special about this robotic surgery? What's behind the data?
The magic of the da Vinci surgical robot
The da Vinci robot consists of three parts: surgeon console, bedside robotic arm system and imaging system.
"Compared to traditional surgery, surgical robots are more flexible and more precise. When performing difficult surgeries, robots have a clear advantage. At the same time, robotic surgery is three-dimensional imaging, which can magnify the field of view by 10 times, and the freedom of operation of the robotic arm is very high, which can rotate 540 degrees, which can cut off human tissues more flexibly, and at the same time better avoid other nerves and blood vessels to avoid damage," a hospital staff said.
The road to the expansion of da Vinci surgical robots
Since the introduction of da Vinci surgical robot in 2007, its development in China has changed qualitatively from the beginning, to 2011, and to 2018, and the installed capacity has increased sharply. Up to now, da Vinci surgical robots have a market share of 67.52% in China's surgical robots.
Since da Vinci is the only company in China that has passed the qualification of laparoscopic surgical robots, its price in China is 20 million / unit, which is twice that of foreign countries, and it cannot be negotiated. Of course, the overlord clause does not stop there, da Vinci stipulates that its robotic arm can only be used 10 times, after which the machine cannot be used, if it costs about 15,000 yuan to change one. If the machine fails, the maintenance cost is even higher, reaching 60-1.27 million yuan.
Due to its superiority as a laparoscopic surgical robot, powerful hospitals in China are vying to purchase, and its installed capacity has exceeded 270 units by the end of 2022, and its sales have reached 7.5 billion yuan in the past three years alone.
Foreign ones are so expensive, and there are so many overlord clauses, why not use domestic ones?
Development of domestic surgical robots
The main thing is that we don't have the technology and can't do it, but now it's good, since 2020, da Vinci's patents have expired one after another, and the mainland surgical robot has also ushered in spring. The minimally invasive robot's independent research and development of four-arm laparoscopic surgical robot represents the highest level in mainland China.
Robotic surgery costs
Of course, the purchase price of robots is expensive, and the cost of surgery will be about 25% higher than that of ordinary laparoscopes. When surgical robots are included in health insurance, they don't cost much.
It is hoped that in the future, mainland surgical robots can replace da Vinci and dominate the domestic market, so that procurement costs and maintenance costs can be reduced, so that more people in need can use the convenience brought by modern technology.