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Orlando Health’s Center for Proton Therapy Reaches a Milestone Center has seen “strong growth” and “worldwide recognition” What began in 2006 as a continuing mission to develop advanced care for cancer patients, and in 2013 saw the delivery of the massive Mevion Medical Systems S250 superconducting synchrocyclotron to the site that became the Marjorie and Leonard Williams Center for Proton Therapy at Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center, has now become a milestone moment seeing the 500th patient treated. For that patient, Juan Campos, proton therapy was of critical importance in safely treating a brain tumor which had received two prior conventional radiation treatments over the past 12 years. The use of proton therapy will allow for effective treatment of the tumor while decreasing the long-term risk of brain injury and preserving neurological function.
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The 15,000-square-foot Marjorie and Leonard Williams Center for Proton Therapy consists of three floors – two above ground and one underground – in order to accommodate the system that operates similar to a linear accelerator. The idea for the original $25 million, 15,000-squarefoot Center began at a time when many of the large proton facilities had an exorbitant price tag: hundreds of millions of dollars. By waiting a few years, the size of the machine decreased, along with the cost. Proton therapy is considered the most precise and advanced form of radiation treatment, primarily radiating the tumor site while leaving intact surrounding healthy tissue and organs. Instead of radiotherapy that is (CONTINUED ON PAGE 7)
Frontiers in Robotic Surgery By SAM ATALLAH, MD and JORGE TRILLES
For contemporary readers and practicing physicians, the term ‘robotic surgery’ may conjure up thoughts of mechanical anthropomorphic beings armed with artificial intelligence quickly rendering the human surgeon obsolete. Yet, this forethought stands in contrast to the current prevailing paradigm for robotic surgery: the master-slave layout, where an experienced surgeon exerts full control over a surgical robot in a symbiotic relationship of sorts that ultimately aims to improve
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patient outcomes in surgery. In this article, I will offer insights on key advantages and limitations of robotic surgery, shed light on some of the more recent advances in this quickly evolving field, and discuss future directions. The da Vinci Surgical System, designed and manufactured by Intuitive Surgical in 1997, and approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. in 2000, remains the most commonly used robotic surgical system to this day. It is classified as a telesurgical system, where a surgeon fully controls a robot situated over a patient on an operating table, but does so from a remote console, usually within close (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
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