News

Saint Joseph’s Hospital announced today the formation of the Visconti Center for Robotics, which houses multiple, minimally-invasive robotic technologies including the daVinci Surgical System® for minimally-invasive cardiac, urologic, thoracic, gynecologic and general surgery procedures; the MAKO®plasty technology for partial knee replacement procedures, and the Hansen® Sensei Robotic Catheter System for advanced cardiac electrophysiology procedures, including treatment of atril fibrillation or AFib.

“A generous donation enabled us to create the most comprehensive program of robotic technologies in the Southeast, if not the country,” says Kirk Wilson, president and CEO of Saint Joseph’s Health System. “Saint Joseph’s helped pioneer the daVinci surgical system in clinical trials with cardiac surgery, and it is now becoming the standard of care demanded by patients.  Combined with the minimally-invasive technologies of the MAKO and Hansen, patients have many less invasive options.”

The donation honors Antonella and Uberto Visconti di Modrone, long-time supporters of Saint Joseph’s Hospital and the Sisters of Mercy.

“The robotics center offers so many options to patients; my parents would be very proud to be associated with such an innovative program,” says daughter, Chiara Visconti di Modrone-Pervanas.

Douglas Murphy, MD, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Saint Joseph’s, was the principal investigator in 2002 for clinical trials using the Intuitive daVinci surgical system for mitral valve repairs prior to FDA approval in 2004.  Today, Saint Joseph’s is one of the nation’s leaders in cardiac valve robotic surgery and among the leaders for prostate robotic surgery under the leadership of Nikhil Shah, DO.

The MAKOplasty® is a procedure which allows surgeons to perform partial knee resurfacing robotically through a minimal incision as an alternative for people suffering from osteoarthritis, or just plain ‘bad knees’, who have been told that they should wait for a total knee replacement.  The procedure allows physicians to treat patients at earlier stages of degenerative joint disease, reducing chronic pain and restoring the ability for an active lifestyle. Kenneth Kress, MD, heads up the MAKO robotics program at SJHA.

The MAKO Guidance System™ is unique in that it creates an active 3-D visualization and maps out the patient’s knee.  The surgeon makes a minimal incision and restores the patient’s knee function by resurfacing the arthritic defects while keeping the healthy bone and tissue intact. The process ensures that only the diseased portions of the joint are removed. 

The Hansen Sensei™ Robotic Catheter System, another minimally-invasive technique available at the Visconti Center for Robotics, is used by interventional cardiologists for the treatment of atril fibrillation (AFib) and other complex electrophysiology (heart rhythm) disorders.  The robotic-guided flexible catheter allows physicians greater stability and flexibility in delivering EP treatments, reduces the potential for repeat procedures and also acts as a delivery device for stenting. Numerous cardiologists members of the Saint Joseph’s Heart and Vascular Institute are now trained and actively using the Hansen system.

As conceived, the Visconti Center for Robotics will replace the current outpatient surgery area on the ground floor of the Stella Maris Outpatient Center on Saint Joseph’s Sandy Springs campus.  When completely remodeled, the Visconti Center will feature five uniquely-designed robotic surgery operating rooms (ORs), six extended-stay observation rooms and 12 pre-and post-surgery prep/recovery bays.  A special viewing-teaching area will be created for one OR for visiting surgical teams from across the country.

Saint Joseph’s recently launched the International College of Robotic Surgery (ICRS), under the leadership of Drs. Murphy and Shah to offer surgical teams from around the world advanced teaching on the Intuitive daVinci Surgical System.  Initial efforts will focus on cardiac surgery but be quickly followed for urology, gynecology, other services lines as well as other robotic technologies.  Saint Joseph’s Hospital currently is one of only five training sites in the country for the daVinci Surgical System.