A Southcoast Hospital is implementing a state-of-the-art surgical tool that benefits both the surgeons and the patients.

The da Vinci Robot is a single-site surgical machine manned by Dr. James Hermenegildo at Charlton Memorial Hospital. The robot is designed to remove gallbladders by making a one-inch incision through the belly button.

Dr. Hermenegildo says the da Vinci Robot is a machine of tomorrow being used today.

Dr. Hermenegildo says the da Vinci Robot allows him to be more precise in the operating room, and cuts surgery time down to less than an hour. Patients that undergo the gallbladder procedure are usually back on their feet in a matter of hours.

Charlton Memorial is the first hospital south of Boston to use the da Vinci Robot.

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