Doctors: Videogame like surgery device medical breakthrough

MESA, AZ - More than half a million people in the U.S. die every year from heart disease; the number one cause of death in the country, but now doctors at one Valley hospital have a new weapon to fight it.

In a small operating room at Banner Heart Hospital, Dennis Lynde counts the days until his next heart surgery. He remembers the last one he had.

"I was very nervous because I haven't had anything done like that before," Lynde said.

Miles away, kids race, battle and play the latest video games at an arcade. Banner Heart had nothing in common with arcades; that is until they booted up their doctors' newest toy.

With cutting edge 3D graphics and a controller like a typical joystick, the new Sensei X Robotic Catheter system could be mistaken for the latest Xbox or Nintendo, except Sensei saves lives.

Dr. Andrew Kaplan, a Cardiac Electrophysiologist with Banner Heart trains with Sensei to fix heart problems.

"It kind of brings me on par with my son who is an avid video game player because now I can participate in the same activities at work," Dr. Kaplan said.

Sensei allows doctors to practice on simulated hearts in video screens, and then turn around and operate on living patients. According to Dr. Kaplan, Sensei’s biggest advantage is that it can floss catheters deep inside patients’ vital organs with ease. The process is less invasive, more successful, and allows for quicker recovery times

Doctors claim it makes once risky procedures a lot safer for people like Lynde.

"It sounds bizarre at first,“ Lynde said. “I have a Playstation at home. It's a relief knowing they're using cutting edge technology to do [my procedure]."

The Sensei X will likely not come to a local arcade near you anytime soon. It carries a price tag of around $750,000.