19 Sep 2015

Robotic surgery

From This Way Up, 1:15 pm on 19 September 2015
Dr Catherine Mohr, Vice President of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical.

Dr Catherine Mohr, Vice President of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical. Photo: Supplied

Robots offer many advantages over human workers. They don't get tired, don't take tea breaks, or rebel when they are asked to perform repetitive, monotonous, spirit-crushing tasks for no financial reward. They also do all this with a degree of relentless precision that we humans can only dream of.

Medicine, specifically surgery, is one area reaping the advantages of a more automated, robotic workforce.  However, before you get images of a travelling production line carrying gowned-up patients past scalpel-wielding robots, the reality is far different.

Dr Catherine Mohr was born in New Zealand and is now Vice President of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical. The company's one of the world leaders in robotic-assisted surgery and her job involves designing the surgical robots of the future.