Reinventing Surgery: From Assembly Robots to Operating Rooms with Sal Brogna

Rick shares an update on the team's efforts to reach out to politicians in the U.S. Congress and Senate to discuss healthcare issues. They're still waiting for responses and hope to make progress soon.This episode focuses on innovation and technology in healthcare, specifically robotic surgery.Joe shares his recent experience on the STEM Plug Podcast, where they discussed robotics in competition.The host introduces the guest, Sal Brogna, who was the COO of Intuitive Surgical, the company that developed the Da Vinci robot. Sal spent 21 years building out the Da Vinci surgical platform, enhancing its capabilities and reliability.Sal is currently the CEO of Informed Surgical, a company focused on enhancing surgical quality through digital surgery.The host and Sal talk about their shared Brooklyn origins and Sal shares his journey into robotics, starting with an interest in cars and a career in the auto industry before moving into robotics and eventually medical applications of robotics.Sal explains the unique capabilities of the Da Vinci robot and how it extends the abilities of surgeons rather than replacing them. This includes its 3D vision, zoomed-in vision, and tremor reduction features.They discuss the challenges they faced during the early development of the Da Vinci Xi robot, which aimed to expand its capabilities for general surgery.Sal discusses the initial pushback from the internal and surgical communities about the development of the Da Vinci Xi, how they overcame these challenges, and the impact this technology had on the market and company.The conversation explores the value of the Da Vinci robot for surgeons and the hurdles in its development, like the inclusion of a stapler in the instrument and the need to disconnect the robot to move the table in surgery.Stay tuned for more insights into the world of healthcare and technology on the Healthcare Nation Podcast!