STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Bill Boeger is nursing a couple dislocated fingers, the result of a ski accident. But that didn’t slow him down as he stepped into the role of a surgeon Thursday afternoon to “perform surgery” using da Vinci’s latest robotic assisted surgical system.

Slipping his thumbs and index fingers through two circular “steering wheels” the size of a quarter, he controlled what looked like pincers as he slipped rings off silicone fingers and placed them on other fingers. He practiced putting in sutures and staples and threading a needle through the silicone, moving the view of what he was working on with foot pedals

Then he unfolded a $5 bill using the surgical tool’s mechanical wrists, which could exceed the range of motion of his human hands.

Bill Boeger operates the daVinci system as Ann Arrington watches his moves on a screen.

Bill Boeger has more than 30 years of experience in the creation of innovative medical and biomedical services, devices and pharmaceuticals. But it’s safe to say he was impressed with the new robotic assistive surgical device at St. Luke’s Wood River.

“That’s just amazing,” said Boeger, who sits on St. Luke’s Wood River board. “How many other 25-bed hospitals in this country have the technology we do!?”

A steady stream of St. Luke’s Wood River board members, media representatives and hospital staff got to try out a demonstration model of the DV5 da Vinci surgical system Thursday under the watchful eye of Dr. Joel Carlson, an OB/GYN at St. Luke’s who performed robotic assisted surgery for years before joining St. Luke’s Wood River.

The tool, which includes a 3D high-definition vision system, is being assembled now and will go into service on Monday, Jan. 27.

Dr. Joel Carlson shows off one of the surgical tools.

“St. Luke’s Wood River is the first hospital in the St. Luke’s system to get this level of the da Vinci system, said Almita Nunnelee, CEO at St. Luke’s Wood River. “The service we provide here is above and beyond that of other 25-bed hospitals thanks to the generosity of the community. At a time when hundreds of small hospitals are shuttering, we’re thriving here due to the support of the community.”

The machine cost $4.3 million—half of which is being covered by hospital funds and half of which is covered through community donations, said, Megan Tanous, who heads up St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation. “This has been a dream for us for years.”

The new tool will be used to address such things as endometriosis, ovarian cysts and problems with fallopian tubes.

Robotic assisted surgery represents the pinnacle of surgical innovation, offering unparalleled preciseness and control, said Dr. Carlson. The daVinci system is revolutionizing the way surgeries are performed leading to better outcomes and faster recovery time for patients with better infection rates.

The daVinci system allows physicians to see this level of detail on a dollar bill.

It can allow surgeons to operate through small incisions, meaning less pain, less blood loss, fewer complications, lower infection ricks, minimal scarring, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery times.

Ann Arrington, a sales rep for Intuitive Clinical, said her father recently had lung surgery. And, instead of cracking his rib cage open to perform surgery as doctors would have in the past, they were able to make a small 8 mm incision in his side using robotic assistive surgery, which led to a faster recovery.

“You would not be able to see the detail in the dollar bill any other way,” she added. “That’s what the doctor can see during surgery—and, when you’re performing sensitive surgery, you want to see that level of magnification.”

Before, Carlson said, he would have to stand over a patient operating while looking at a screen over his shoulder to see what he was doing. It was a tiresome process that sometimes required him to be on his feet for hours.

A surgical instrument prepares to pick up a ring.

With this, he can sit comfortably at a console working on a patient while the patient is several feet away from him.

The new system also allows him to feel and measure how much pressure he’s using, rather than just visualize what he’s doing. That will allow for a softer, or gentler, touch.

Carlson said the new system will keep qualified residents from having to go elsewhere for surgical procedures. And it will be a key recruiting tool for new physicians, all of whom are being trained on the system in school.

Nunnalee said it’s her hope that the hospital will one day be able to hire a neurologist who can use the system.

“This new system is huge for us—we want to take care of this community,” she said. “And we would like to expand our service to include urologist—many are coming out of schools looking for places where they can provide services.”

Learn more at https://www.slwrf.org/