Traditionally, when one thinks of heart or lung surgery they probably think of a surgeon having to open the chest, either through the sternum to get to the heart or between the ribs to get to the lungs. However, more and more, cardiac and thoracic surgeons are using less invasive approaches.
It's been one year since University Hospitals introduced a new program allowing its cardiac surgeons to perform heart bypass surgery with the assistance of a surgical robot known as DaVinci.
In that time, two UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute cardiac surgeons have performed over one hundred of these surgeries.
And last month, University Hospitals' thoracic surgeon, Chris Towe, was the first in Northeast Ohio to use the latest iteration of a surgical robot called the DaVinci 5 on lung cancer patients among others.
On Wednesday's "Sound of Ideas," we're going to start the hour talking to top cardiac and thoracic surgeons at UH about how robotics are changing how these surgeries are performed as well as the patients experience.
Later in this hour, Cleveland author and educator Quartez Harris champions the power of literature with his first children's book. "Go Tell It" is a biography of James Baldwin's early years and his insatiable passion for books. Harris spoke about his own literary evolution with this book in conversation with Ideastream Public Media's Deputy Editor of Arts and Culture Carrie Wise.
Guests:
-Dr. Yasir Abu-Omar, M.D., Chief of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute
-Dr. Pablo Ruda Vega, M.D., Cardiac Surgeon, University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute
-Dr. Christopher Towe, M.D., Esophageal & Thoracic Surgeon, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
-Carrie Wise, Deputy Editor of Arts and Culture, Ideastream Public Media
-Quartez Harris, Author of "Go Tell It"
