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The growing popularity of this pricey equipment — which can cost more than $2 million, according to some estimates — has sparked a debate on the merits and risks of robotic surgery.

Both local hospital systems now have surgical robots in an effort, hospital officials say, to provide minimally invasive surgery that shortens patients’ hospital stays. …

Surgeons who use the robots say the technology allows patients to recover quicker because they lose less blood — less than a tablespoon, in some cases — and the incisions are smaller, sometimes less than half an inch.

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The robots are controlled solely by the surgeon, who sits at a nearby console and views the surgery through a viewfinder, where the images are magnified 10 times and appear in 3D.

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See the full story here: http://www.caller.com/news/2011/jul/23/no-headline—robot_surgery/