Robot-Assisted Laparoscopy

The Lahey Clinic Institute of Urology is equipped with a da Vinci® Surgical System, a computerized robotic platform that enhances the performance of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery.

As with traditional laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon operates through tiny incisions in the patient's abdomen. The da Vinci System serves as extensions of the surgeon's hands, and is designed to filter and translate the surgeon's hand movements into precise movements of instruments within the surgical site.

Surgical performance is enhanced by the elimination of some of the physical challenges posed by traditional laparoscopic surgery. The da Vinci System can improve the surgeon's visualization of delicate tissues and nerves by providing him or her with a magnified, 3D view of the surgical site. It also increases the surgeon's dexterity by allowing for 360-degree rotation of surgical tools.

The da Vinci System is the only surgical robotic system approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in performing radical prostatectomy, as well as a range of other procedures.

Meet the Robotic Surgery Team

David Canes, MD

David Canes, MD, is the medical director of the Lahey Institute of Urology at Parkland Medical Center. He is fellowship-trained in advanced laparoscopic and robotic urology, and has been involved in more than 200 robotic urologic procedures using the da Vinci® Surgical System. Dr. Canes has helped other surgeons learn the technique of robotic prostatectomy both regionally and abroad.

Dr. Canes attended medical school at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and went on to complete a six-year Urology residency training program at Lahey Clinic Medical Center. Following residency, Dr. Canes pursued additional subspecialty fellowship training at the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute of Cleveland Clinic, a world-renowned center for minimally invasive surgery. Under the mentorship of Mihir Desai, MD, and Inderbir Gill, MD, MCh, he specialized in advanced laparoscopy, robotic surgery and endourology. Subsequently, Dr. Canes was recruited to join the staff at the Institute of Urology at Lahey Clinic.

Dr. Canes practices at the Institute of Urology at Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the newly established Lahey Institute of Urology at Parkland Medical Center in Derry, New Hampshire. He primarily focuses on minimally invasive and robotic surgery for urologic cancers, including prostate, bladder, kidney, ureteral and adrenal tumors, although his training encompassed open surgery, as well. Dr. Canes's specialty training also includes the endourologic management of complex kidney and ureteral stones.

Dr. Canes has published extensively in the field of minimally invasive urologic surgery, and has presented his work at national and international meetings. He is a member of several professional societies including the American Urological Association and the Endourology Society.

Ali Moinzadeh, MD

Ali Moinzadeh, MD, is the director of robotic surgery in Lahey's Institute of Urology. He has broad expertise in performing minimally invasive urologic surgery. Dr. Moinzadeh is highly trained in these specialized surgical procedures, including operations performed using the da Vinci® Surgical System.

Dr. Moinzadeh obtained his medical degree (1997) at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Ill. He subsequently completed residencies in general surgery (1999) and urology (2003) at Massachusetts General Hospital and Lahey Clinic, respectively. In 2005, Dr. Moinzadeh completed his fellowship in advanced laparoscopic and robotic urology at Cleveland Clinic, where he studied under renowned urologist Inderbir Gill, MD, MCh. After completing his training, he went on to become chief of laparoscopic and robotic surgery in the Department of Urology at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY.

Dr. Moinzadeh has completed a program in Clinical Effectiveness at Harvard School of Public Health (2006) and has published numerous articles and book chapters about laparoscopic urologic surgery for the treatment of cancer. His special interests include minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures, nephron sparing surgery, renal cryotherapy, robotic surgery and urologic oncology.

Andrea Sorcini, MD

Andrea Sorcini, MD, is a specialist in the fields of minimally invasive surgery and urologic oncology. He joined the Urology Institute in 2000, after completing his urology residency and transplant fellowship at Lahey Clinic. Today, he is actively involved in the Kidney Transplant Program, Prostate Center and Center for Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery.

Dr. Sorcini has performed many laparoscopic and open kidney operations and transplants. Under his direction, the volume of kidney transplants at Lahey Clinic nearly quadrupled in the early 2000s. Today he focuses primarily on urologic oncology and laparoscopic removal of cancers of the bladder, prostate, kidney and adrenal gland.

Dr. Sorcini is a graduate of the University of Rome, La Sapienza School of Medicine in Italy, where he completed a residency in general surgery in 1993. He has published many scholarly articles in the field of urologic oncology, along with videos on clinical and technical aspects of urology that have won several awards at international conferences.