Do you guys know how robotic surgery works? It's pretty crazy-looking. You've got all of these robotic arms operating on the patient, and they're controlled by a surgeon sitting at a nearby console. Here's what it looks like:

That's the da Vinci Surgical System, developed by manufacturer Intuitive Surgical. Their systems, and others like them, take a minimally invasive surgical approach. Medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in America, claiming some 250,000 people a year. While not all of those deaths are in surgery, systems like the da Vinci are designed to improve outcomes and reduce risks to patients who are in surgery.

To train surgeons on how to use their systems, Intuitive Surgical needed to develop a simulator. They hired ID consultancy Acorn Product Development for help. Acorn tackled the research, program management, industrial design and mechanical engineering for this Da Vinci Surgical System Skills Simulator.

Intuitive Surgical — da Vinci Surgical System Skills Simulator

"Simulation in all forms is an important part of the learning experience for surgical technology. By providing a controlled re-creation of critical steps in instrument control, simulation allows surgeons to practice their skills in a non-clinical environment."

"The da Vinci Skills Simulator contains a variety of exercises and scenarios specifically designed to give users the opportunity to improve their proficiency with the da Vinci surgeon console controls. The sleek case seamlessly integrates with an existing da Vinci® Si™ or Si-e™ surgeon console* turning it into a novel practice platform that can be used in or outside the operating room. No additional system components are required."

"Acorn Product Development created the industrial design, and developed a mounting system, thermal solution, and interconnect scheme that integrated smoothly with the existing DaVinci robot system."

You can see more of Acorn's work here.