Traditionally, when a patient undergoes surgery to have a tumor removed from their throat, doctors will go in through the head to remove it. Then, the patient will have to wait a week before eating normal food and a little longer before they can leave the hospital. This isn’t the case with a San Antonio woman who recently underwent successful robotic throat cancer surgery.

By inserting a small robot, named DaVinci, into her mouth and controlling it remotely, surgeons were able to remove the tumor without having to make an incision. The woman was then almost able to eat and drink normal foods the very next day and she could be cleared to leave the hospital in as little as three days. Doctors are optimistic about her prognosis.

This is certainly fantastic news. Obviously, this is still something of a work in progress and doctors can’t exactly abandon their old ways just yet, but this is a step in a very promising direction. When we finally develop the technology to shrink Dennis Quaid down and put him in Martin Short’s body, then I’ll be truly impressed.

via Slashgear