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Zena Taher/KHTS News

Santa Clarita Students Operate Surgical Robot At Henry Mayo

Students from Santa Clarita junior high and high school robotics clubs tested their skills operating a surgical robot at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Friday.

On Friday, students from Rancho Pico, Placerita and Rio Norte Junior High and Hart High School in Santa Clarita got hands-on experience using the Da Vinci Surgical System robot, and competed to see which student would get the highest accuracy score using the machinery.

“We have four teams from four different schools all having a robotics program,” said Holly Reed, a science teacher who oversees the robotics club at Placerita Junior High. “They’re each competing on one of the two (Da Vinci Surgical) systems.”

The inside of the Da Vinci Surgical System Robots, which students were remotely operating at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, Calif., Friday, March 31. Zena Taher/KHTS News

The students used controllers to operate the robot from across the room. They were tasked with carrying plastic rings onto cones of matching colors by controlling the robot’s arms.

A student remotely controls the Da Vinci Surgical System Robot to move hoops onto cones at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, Calif., Friday, March 31. Zena Taher/KHTS News

Hart High School won the competition, with eleventh grader Owen Rusk landing the highest score.

Before they got the winning score, Dr. Sevan V. Stepanian, a surgeon with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, talked about the importance of using the surgical robot in his operations.

Dr. Sevan V. Stepanian checks his score after operating the Da Vinci Surgical System Robot at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, Calif., Friday, March 31. Zena Taher/KHTS News

The Da Vinci Surgical system allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries in many parts of the body, leaving smaller entry wounds and leading to quicker recovery times for patients.

“When we talk about outcomes we look at how well patients do over time,” Stepanian said. “They’re getting better cancer control with certain types of operations, and just better recovery in general.”

Rio Norte Junior High student Sanjana Prabakar operates the Da Vinci Surgical System Robot at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, Calif., Friday, March 31. Zena Taher/KHTS News

Students at the event were excited to get hands-on and operate the robot. Some robotics club members interested in the medical field were especially curious about the technology.

“I’m interested in coding and all that, and also in the future I want to become a surgeon or something in the medical field,” said Rio Norte Junior High student Sanjana Prabakar. “So I’m glad both of these topics are kind of combined here.”


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Santa Clarita Students Operate Surgical Robot At Henry Mayo

One comment

  1. DIY OTC lobotomies can’t be far behind.

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About Zena Taher

Zena Taher moved to Santa Clarita when she was 12 years old. She has always been a voracious reader, which led her to take an interest in writing professionally. She graduated College of the Canyons in 2021 with a double major in journalism and communications and is currently attending California State University Northridge.