A cancer patient returned home just two days after having his prostate removed thanks to pioneering surgery performed by a robot.

'Matilda the robot' performs prostate operation

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"The 'Robo Doc’ - or Matilda as the machine in more personally called by surgeons - carried out the procedure on 55-year-old surveyor David Roughly with greater precision than a human hand.

Mr Roughly was up and about within 24 hours after undergoing the operation at Manchester’s Christie Hospital thanks to the less invasive nature of the surgery.

Lower doses of anaesthetic are needed for the keyhole surgery under the robot’s steady hand, patients lose less blood and the chances of infection are lower."

"Surgeon Vijay Ramani said: “The robot is very sophisticated. With practice you can achieve the same or better levels or control as if you held the instrument yourself, rather than traditional keyhole surgery which is more like using chopsticks.

“This is the future of surgery because it radically reduces most of the risks associated with operations, but the technology enables us to see inside the body as well as performing an open operation and manipulate the instruments with high precision.

“David’s operation went well and his recovery was remarkable. As well as bringing benefits for patients, the machines will be cost effective because patients recover so much quicker - they can be discharged after one or two days and return to work after just a few weeks.”"