A distinguished heart surgeon from Rabin Medical Center in Israel visited South Florida in April to discuss with the medical community new technologies in minimally invasive heart surgery using robotics, so that patients may resume activities within three days.

Dr. Eyal Porat, new chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Rabin Medical Center, described to 75 doctors at the JFK Medical Center in Boca Raton, a new procedure in the repair of throracic aortic aneurysms that eliminates the practice of opening the chest cavity and requires only three pencil thin holes to repair the heart.

Dr. Porat established the robotics program at the University of Texas Health Science Center and hopes to bring this technology to Rabin Medical Center, the first of its kind in all of Israel.

Dr. Porat noted that the development of robotic surgical systems opened new approaches in general and cardiac surgery. Robotic enhancement has emerged as a facilitator of minimally invasive surgery in various surgical fields, primarily in urology and cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Porat also spoke to some 800 people at congregations in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, describing the advancements in medical technology in Israel.