Daniel Sheiner is a designer and software programmer. He has been suffering from constant fatigue and exhaustion throughout the daytime and suspects that he has sleep apnea, a disorder which runs down his family. Despite being of normal weight, Sheiner was diagnosed with apnea through a sleep study conducted by his doctors.
University of Pennsylvania Hospital ENT surgeon Erica Thaler says that Sheiner’s case is one of the most extreme. So severe in fact that Thaler has recommended robotic surgery. Sheiner wakes up almost 112 times each hour, translating to almost ten seconds of losing breath for each minute of sleep. Surgical robots will be removing cancerous tumors at the rear of his throat in order to prevent blockage of his air passage during sleep.
Thaler shares that Sheiner had extremely large tonsils which are getting in the way of his soft palate and tongue. Robot hands, being small and extremely nimble, were easily able to access the tiny spaces in Sheinier’s throat in order to remove his tonsils. Sheiner is now one of only six patients having undergone robotic surgery to treat apnea.
Source:http://www.shiftworkdisorder.com/software-designer-becomes-one-of-six-to-undergo-robotic-surgery-101934.html
