Air Force surgeons this week performed the service’s first robotic surgery, using a robot to successfully conduct a ventral hernia repair. The 81st Surgical Operations Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., used a da Vinci Xi robot to improve the mobility and range of motion in the surgery. The $2 million robot system is able to translate a surgeon’s movements more precisely, according to an Air Force release. “It made the surgery easier, visualization was much better, and the da Vinci Xi has more dexterity, which is great,” 81st MSGS general surgeon Maj. Lauren Buck said in the release. The patient was able to leave the hospital the same day as the surgery. The Defense Department has 22 of the systems, and Keesler will begin joint service training on the system next week, the release states.
The Space Force on April 15 released two highly anticipated future-casting documents that describe what the service expects the space environment will look like in the year 2040 and lay out the force structure it thinks it will need to operate in that environment.