Robot Performs Delicate Heart Surgery: CBS Channel 8

A new robotic heart catheter system offers new hope for the more than 2.2 million Americans who suffer from atrial fibrillation. The procedure, called a catheter ablation for supraventricular tachycardia, is a common arrhythmia that typically occurs in healthy people and is characterized by palpitations or a racing pulse. Driven by a joystick from a control station next to the patient, physicians at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla are now able to maneuver the robotic catheter with pinpoint precision, much like a video game.

• See the news clip of the Hansen Robotic System