CLEVELAND — A groundbreaking new surgical tool recently made its worldwide debut right here in Cleveland. It’s supposed to reduce both operating room staff and patient recovery time by making minimally invasive surgeries even more minimally invasive. Julia Tingler was one of the first patients to undergo surgery with the MARS system, or Magnetic Assisted Robotic Surgery.
“I’ve had a lot of health issues my whole life,” Tingler told News 5 anchor Katie Ussin. She has had issues ever since she needed a liver transplant as a toddler.
Dr. Matthew Kroh, Vice Chair of Innovation at the Cleveland Clinic Digestive Disease Institute, performed Tingler’s surgery.
“Magnetics allows us to manipulate and move tissues during operation,” he said. “It allows us to move tissue in different directions than we could with the older technique.”
Kroh said the MARS system allowed him to make fewer incisions for Tingler’s sleeve gastrectomy, a common bariatric surgery. It meant a speedy recovery for the mother.
“I was a little slow the first day days,” she said of her Oct. 30 surgery. “That Friday, I was up and moving and we went shopping.”
The surgery was a game-changer for Tingler. That liver transplant in her childhood led to a life-long journey of navigating health problems, like an increased risk of conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. Those are risks that are also associated with obesity.
“I’m already prone to all these issues without even being overweight, so I don’t really want to add to it and make it worse for myself,” she said.
Kroh used the MARS system to insert a magnet into Tingler’s abdomen. It’s equipped with a pincer that allowed him to move tissue around inside her body without making larger incisions. The magnet inside her body was controlled by another magnet on the outside, operated by the doctor.
Katie also got a chance to speak with CEO of the company that came up with this technology, Dr. Alberto Rodriguez-Navarro. He said he was inspired by a couple of sea turtles he had in a fish tank growing up.
“We used two magnets to clean the glass walls of the fish tank,” he said. “So you put a magnet inside and a magnet outside, and you clean the wall.”
He then translated the technique to the human body. In Tingler’s case, Kroh used the internal magnet to move her liver so he could better see her stomach. So far, it’s been a success.
“I’m kind of glad that we had the machine because I think that helped with not such a hard recovery,” she said.
For Tingler and her 4-year-old daughter, it means the world.
“She’s our one-and-done child, so I want to have a good outlook for her as well and be able to do things with her, you know?" she said. "Not sit on a bench at the park and be exhausted from just running around.”
