The March 3 visit from the Intuitive Surgical Thoracic Cancer Mobile Experience (TOME) was a smashing success. The truck – with its working models of state-of-the-art surgical robots – hosted dozens of St. Mary’s leaders and colleagues, a science class from Clarke Middle School (CMS), numerous physicians (and some of their children!) and at least one family of visitors who decided to check it out after hearing an announcement over the hospital’s PA system.

The 1,000-square-foot truck introduced the Ion Thoracic Bronchoscopy System – which provides fast, ultra-precise biopsies of potential lung cancers – and the da Vinci Si Robotic Surgical System, which provides minimally invasive lung resection for the treatment of cancer – along with a host of other procedures.

Visitors could not only see the systems in action, they could actually pilot them. On the Ion, visitors could use the system to navigate through a life-size model of the human lungs and its airways (“It’s like Google Maps!” one CMS student exclaimed). On the da Vinci, visitors could use the immersive surgeon’s console to perform intricate tasks using the robotic arms of the patient cart, including unwrapping a Hersey’s Kiss.

St. Mary’s is committed to bringing state-of-the-art technology to the forefront as we continually strive to provide the highest level of care – and even higher level caring – to the communities we serve.

We hope you enjoy these photos from the event. Huge thanks to Intuitive Surgical and its dedicated staff for making this event possible.