About Us / Innovation & Technology
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Transforming Patient Care
UCLA Health System is home to some of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the world, providing an extraordinary opportunity for the advancement of medicine and improving patient care. Our physicians are leaders in a variety of minimally invasive and robotic procedures, some of which are listed below.
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Robotic Surgery
UCLA surgeons are using a da Vinci surgical robot to help them perform extremely precise operations through very small incisions. While traditional laparoscopic tools provide a limited range of motion, robotic tools offer greatly improved freedom of motion that is similar to that of the human hand. It is currently used at UCLA for applications such as cardiothoracic procedures, prostatectomy and hysterectomy.
Watch Video: Wired Science RoboDoc
Watch Video: Robotic Hysterectomy
Watch Video: Robotic Surgery for Prostate Cancer
Learn more: Robotically assisted prostatectomy uses minimally invasive tools to treat cancer (Clinical Update)

Robotic Telemedicine
A new breed of robot allows physicians to virtually consult with patients in the UCLA neurosurgery intensive care unit, even if they are miles away. The physician consults with patients, family members and other caregivers in two-way conversations that are face-to-face encounters thanks to cameras built into the robot and the physician's computer.
Learn more: New robots help doctors keep an eye on patients, even when they can't be bedside. (Insights Healthcare)
Watch Video: Robotic Telemedicine

State-of-the-Art Medical Center
In addition to the standard (though most-up-to-date) operating-room equipment, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center's 23 ORs are equipped with advanced audio and high-resolution video-conferencing capabilities, so that medical students at home or colleagues around the world can observe surgeries in real time.
Learn more: Inventing the Future (Medicine Magazine)
Watch Video: KCBS The Pulse: O.R. is on Cutting Edge of Technology
There is one place you want to be. The Ronald Reagan Medical Center at UCLA. The equipment is cutting edge. So cutting edge, it's not used in most ERs...anywhere. Read more
Prostate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
MR imaging reveals structural and functional properties of both normal and cancerous prostate tissue. At UCLA, four different MR studies are used as needed to obtain the best possible diagnosis and staging.
Learn more: A Better Look at Prostate Tumors
Learn more: About Prostate MR Imaging
Dual-Source Computed Tomography (DSCT) Scanners
UCLA was the first hospital on the West Coast to install dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) scanners, available at both the Westwood and Santa Monica hospitals. The fastest CT scanners for cardiovascular imaging, DSCT significantly enhances the safety and capabilities of this noninvasive diagnostic tool. The added speed allows radiologists to image the beating heart with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
Learn more: Speedy dual-source CT scanners improve safety, effectiveness of diagnostic cardiovascular testing (Clinical Update)
Specialty Interventional Procedure Rooms
Rapid advances in technology and technique are blurring traditional lines between cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology in the 21st century. At Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the specialty interventional procedure rooms are all grouped in close proximity with the operating rooms, encouraging collaborations that reduce surgical errors, improve outcomes and decrease costs.
Learn more: Interventional Cardiologists and Surgeons Bring New Innovations (Physicians Update)
SPECT/CT Imaging
SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) is a powerful diagnostic tool that relies on radioisotopes that accumulate very selectively in specific target. When physicians acquire SPECT and CT images at the same time, SPECT's functional information is projected onto the anatomical background of the body, enabling nuclear medicine specialists to provide more precise and informed diagnoses.
Learn more: SPECT/CT adds anatomic detail to improve diagnostic utility of SPECT images
Minimally Invasive Hip and Knee Replacements
Hip and knee replacements have become fairly routine, providing pain relief, increased mobility and improved quality of life. With today's less-invasive procedures that employ smaller incisions than in the past, new materials and alternative weight-bearing surfaces, and improvements to post-operative pain-management protocols, patients are more comfortable, and rehabilitation is improved.
Learn more: Surgical Strides Improve Repair of Bones and Joints (Vital Signs)
Minimally Invasive Pediatric Surgery
While the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques in adults was skyrocketing, minimally invasive pediatric surgery lagged behind for several reasons, including the lack of instruments tiny enough for use in children. As the tools have become available, minimally invasive pediatric surgeries have increased dramatically at UCLA. The smaller scars these procedures produce are particularly important for children given that the scar grows along with the child.
Learn more: Less Invasive Surgeries Increasingly Performed in Children (Pediatric Update)
Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Surgery
A team of UCLA neurosurgeons and head and neck surgeons are helping to pioneer a minimally invasive, endoscopic surgical approach that offers greatly improved visualization and freedom of movement to remove pituitary tumors more confidently and precisely. This breakthrough surgical approach avoids "blind" tumor removal techniques, which can lead to incomplete tumor resections and/or injury to critical adjacent structures.
Learn more: New pituitary tumor resection technique offers better visualization and more complete tumor removal (Vital Signs)
Visit our Medical Breakthroughs page for more >>
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