Transplant surgeon, Stuart R. Geffner, M.D., performed the first robot-assisted kidney transplant in the world at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, New Jersey. The recipient was Maureen Schrader, a Type 1 diabetic, whose kidneys had failed. The donor was her husband Jim as he turned out to be a perfect living donor match.

Dr. Geffner is the first in the world to use the Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci(TM) Surgical System to successfully implant a kidney into a living recipient. This procedure revolutionizes kidney transplant surgery, taking an open procedure to an advanced form of laparoscopic surgery.

Utilizing the da Vinci Surgical System, a laparoscopic camera and robotic probes are inserted into the patient through several small incisions. Pencil-sized probes translate the surgeon's hand movements and adjust themselves to compensate for the natural tremor of the human hand. For the patient, robot-assisted surgery is safe, minimally invasive and offers faster recovery time.

"The robotic transplant requires a 5 cm incision which is just large enough to introduce the kidney into the recipient's body. It is approximately one-third the size of a conventional 'open' transplant incision. I believe that this will be beneficial to the patient in terms of quicker recovery, as well as a lower incidence of the most frequent post-operative complications -- wound infection and bleeding," states Dr. Geffner.