Robotic arm helps ease heart surgery

David Binsfeld said he felt a little hesitant before his heart surgery at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn hospital last week.

Before he was wheeled into the operating room, his surgeon, Dr. Vijendra Swarup, advised him there would be a new high-tech member of the surgical team taking part in his operation.

SLIDESHOW: Heart surgery is performed using new technology

This member, Binsfeld was told, would have an ability, far superior to that of any human hand, to precisely guide a catheter inside his heart.

"Dr. Swarup said they had a new technology to use that should produce a better result," said Binsfeld, 41, of his reaction to learning a robot would help remedy his abnormal heart rhythms.

After a few minutes, Binsfeld said his worries abated.

"I thought, why not take advantage of a new technology," said Binsfeld, who was diagnosed two years ago with atrial fibrillation - a heart condition characterized by fast and irregular heart rhythms caused by electrical abnormalities in the pulmonary veins of the heart's left atrium.

Roughly 2.2 million Americans develop atrial fibrillation each year, according to the American Heart Association, The likelihood of developing the condition increases with age, affecting between 3 percent to 5 percent of those over age 65, the association said.

Atrial fibrillation is commonly treated in two ways, explained Swarup, an electrophysiologist at Scottsdale Healthcare and partner at Arizona Arrhythmia Consultants.

Patients can either take medications and blood thinners to control the situation for the rest of their lives or opt for corrective surgery, he said.

Binsfeld, an insurance broker who resides in Phoenix, said after taking pills six times a day for the past year, surgery looked like a better option.

"There is always concern going into a surgery, but I wouldn't allow myself to think, 'What if?' " said Binsfeld, who first noticed something was wrong when his heart would sporadically race from time to time.

Scottsdale Healthcare spokeswoman Alice Sluga said the company purchased the $650,000 robotic arm about a month ago. She said Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn is the only hospital in Arizona to offer the robotic arm, known formally as the Sensei Robotic Catheter System.

The hospital has used the Sensei robot in a handful of heart arrhythmia surgeries since its arrival, Sluga said.

Swarup said having the robotic arm, which he controls a few feet away from the operating table at a computer station, offers patients a number of advantages.

"The robot can move around the catheter 10 times more precise than the human hand," Swarup said.

Other high-tech tools used in the procedure also decrease the amount of radiation the patient and operating room staff are exposed to and help reduce the risk of blood clots forming during surgery that can cause a stroke.

The procedure began with Swarup inserting a catheter through Binsfeld's groin into a vein leading up to his heart. Through live ultrasound and live X-ray pictures, along with a previously taken CT scan of the heart, Swarup was able to map the areas onto a 3-D computer model of Binsfeld's heart. Swarup then guided the robotic arm remotely from the computer station to radiate the selected heart tissue.

Binsfeld, who was released from the hospital a day after his surgery, said he was able to return to work after only a few days of recuperating at home.