Meet the $3M robotic surgeon that just made its debut at San Joaquin General Hospital

FOR SURGEONS, USING San Joaquin General Hospital’s newest robot is like “playing a virtual reality game in which everything is in 3D,” the hospital says. “Your hands are the instruments.”

The roughly $3 million Da Vinci 5 Surgical System — an imposing white machine bearing four mantis-like arms, and manipulated through two detached consoles — was featured in its first surgery this past Thursday, spokesperson Jessica Helmick said.