World's largest medical robotic conference

Ten years ago, the first robotic assisted surgery for prostate cancer in the United States took place at Henry Ford Hospital's Vattikuti Institute.

Today, the majority prostate of cancer surgeries are done robotically. At Henry Ford alone, more than 6,000 procedures have been performed during the past decade.

Next week, the international leaders in the field will meet at the world's largest medical robotic conference Jan.13-16 at the Wynn Las Vegas.

The International Robotic Urology Symposium 2011 is hosted by the Henry Ford Vattikuti Urology Institute and the Vattikuti Foundation.

At the conference, Henry Ford's Mani Menon, M.D., the pioneer behind the robotic revolution, will discuss the last decade in the field and its expanded use by physicians around the world, as well as what the future holds for the technology.

And after 10 years, the use of robotic technology is no longer confined to removing cancerous prostates.

Lectures and plenary sessions will cover bladder, kidney and pediatrics, as well as alternative therapies to treat patients with benign and malignant prostate cancer.

Live surgeries, transmitted from hospitals in the United States, India and South Korea, will be shown all four days of the symposium. The surgeries, both live 3D and 2D, will allow the attendees to observe differences in technique.

Sessions include:

• How to Make Robotic Programs Efficient and Cost-Effective
• What is New in Radical Cystectomy?
• What is New in Robotic Technology?
• Functional Limitations of Anatomical Neuronal Preservation During Radical Prostatectomy
• Competing Techniques of Robotic Urinary Diversion
• My Prostate Cancer: A Urologist's Account of His Own Experience
• Technique Modifications that Impact the Return of Urinary Continence After Radical Prostatectomies
• Molecular Predictors for Behavior of Early Prostate Cancer
• Suprapubic Tube After RALP: Should We?
• Minimally Invasive and Focal Therapies for Prostatic Diseases
• Early Prostate Cancer: The Dilemma
• Unusual Urologic Applications of Robotic Surgery