Editor's Note: The following information is a press release from Saint Peter's University Hospital.

Saint Peter’s University Hospital has become the first hospital in central New Jersey – and only the third hospital in the state – to perform single-incision robotic-assisted surgery using the da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System. At Saint Peter’s, James E. Gervasoni Jr., MD, Ph.D., FACS, chief of surgery, successfully removed a gallbladder through a single incision in a patient’s navel. When the patient returned home the same day, minimally invasive surgery had taken another step forward.

“The maneuverability and precision of these instruments is better than the human hand,” said Dr. Gervasoni. “The actual operating time took a grand total of only 35 minutes. And the patient will experience less scarring and recovery time, as well as a lower risk of infection, than with other laparoscopic methods. Today we saw the future of surgery.”

About 1 million people in the United States undergo gallbladder removal surgery every year. Forty percent are women ages 18 to 44. Now those patients can have their gallbladder removed in the same time as a lunch break and be home in time for dinner.

The da Vinci system enables surgeons to reduce the traditional number of incisions from four to six small incisions to one incision of less than an inch in length through the navel.

“And gallbladder surgery is just the beginning,” Dr. Gervasoni said. “In the future, new advances in technology by Intuitive Surgical Inc., the maker of da Vinci, will allow surgeons to perform other procedures as well using the single-port platform.”

“Single-port surgery will supersede everything else over the next 25 years,” Dr. Gervasoni said. “Most operations will be done robotically through one port. All surgeons will have to learn how to do this and get on board, because this is the future.”

Unique features of the da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System (the latest generation of da Vinci) include:
- Enhanced 3D, high-definition vision of operative field with up to 10 percent magnification;
- Superior visual clarity of tissue and anatomy;
- Superior surgical dexterity and precision;
- Updated and simplified user interface to enhance operating room efficiency;
- New ergonomic settings for greater surgeon comfort.

Surgeons at Saint Peter’s University Hospital use the da Vinci system for a variety of minimally invasive procedures, including general, gynecological and urological surgery.

In addition to Gervasoni, other Saint Peter’s University Hospital physicians who are performing surgery on the da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System include:

- Maureen Cernadas, obstetrics-gynecology
- Sanjiv Patankar, obstetrics-gynecology/colorectal
- Manish Gopal, urology/gynecology
- Marc Feder, urology
- Kyle Beiter, obstetrics-gynecology
- Brad Cohen, obstetrics-gynecology  
- Jean Pineda, obstetrics-gynecology
- Vincent Mileto, gynecology
- Robert Beim, obstetrics-gynecology
- Thomas Vates, urology