The name is Razer!

Grinnell Regional Medical Center’s Office of Communication and Development and the staff of the GRMC surgery department recently held a naming contest for area children to name the new surgery robot.

The winning name is Razer, submitted by Jaxon Goodrich, a second grade student at Fairview Elementary School in Grinnell. 

Students created a drawing of what they envision a surgical robot to look like and also came up with a name for the robot.

Other winners were Davis Utech, first grade, Bailey Park Elementary; Jack Stephens, first grade, Fairview Elementary; Elena Grandstaff, second grade, Fairview Elementary; and Haidyn Hull, second grade, Bailey Park Elementary.

Many students brought their families to the GRMC Community Breakfast on May 11 to get the chance to see Razer up close.

GRMC has been using the daVinci Surgical Robotic System since January 2013. The system is a sophisticated robotic platform designed to expand a surgeon’s capabilities and offer a minimally invasive option for major surgery. With daVinci, small incisions are used to introduce miniaturized wristed instruments and a high-definition 3D camera. The robotic and computer technologies seamlessly translate the surgeon’s hand movements into precise micro-movements of the daVinci instruments.

Less than 20 hospitals in Iowa have this technology and GRMC is one of only two rural hospitals offering this type of surgery.