小丫丫每天都告訴我她長大後的職業志向，有時是時裝設計、有時是老師、又有時是總統，自從上星期我們去了一個極具特色的親子教室後，小丫丫的志向欄又多了一個新目標 － － 機械人科學家。
Our family recently made a hospital visit that involved no baby, no medicine or treatment, and even no patient! That's because we attended a really interesting robotic surgical system demonstration for young children. What's making the kids so amazed in these pictures? Read on to find out about this fascinating STEM moment for the kids. . .
學習和發展 S T E M 才華 （Science Technology Engineering Math）是目前的熱門趨勢，我覺得最能鼓勵孩子喜愛科技項目的方法，就是讓孩子親身參與和觸摸它。這次的親子活動由醫院主辦，目的就是給小朋友一個接觸醫療科技的好機會。
Meet "Sergio" - the robotic system that can do a surgery for the doctor! Here we are watching how the robotic arms and tools craftilly pick up various obscure objects, like rubber bands and coins, from a small dish full of "obstacles".
Now's the Time for Robotic Test Drive
The surgical system has two major components - - the surgical console (left) controls the 3 robotic arms and a 3D camera (right). The super-sensitive controller scales, filters and translates the surgeon's hand movements into more precise micro-movements of the 3 robotic arms that hold the tools.
We won’t miss the chance to take a hands-on test drive of “Surgio” the da Vinci Surgical Robot. Here’s little Doc tackling her first pre-medical school assignment - - peeling the skin off a piece of grape by controlling the 3 robotic arms and tiny grips.
We also learned that this robot is handling operations in thousands of hospitals all over the world. Just in 2012, over 200,000 surgeries were conducted by this system, which helps reduce blood loss and shorten healing process. In Southern California, there are 40 of them, and each one costs over two million dollars!
Luckily, the “grape patient” survived the whole process and the skin is successfully peeled. Whew! Our little doc told me that it is actually easier than using her own fingers!
Knowing how inquisitive our little one is, we allowed extra time for her to raise her series of questions for the pros. Dr. Marcus graciously took the time to listen to all her questions and helped her find the answers.
We want to thank Marina Del Rey Hospital for such an eye-opening experience for our family. The hands-on test drive inspired our daughter to read up on books about robots and doctors. Now she’s seriously considering changing her career goal from a fashion designer and teacher to a robot engineer!
For more information about Marina Del Rey Hospital and its Robotoc Surgery Center, click here.