Museum of Minimally Invasive Surgery
In the Telecommunication Endoscopy Center at the Medical University of Pleven in the central lobby is located the exhibition "History of Minimally Invasive Surgery", which shows the 50-year history of the revolutionary progress of equipment related to minimally invasive surgery.
The museum was created on the initiative of Prof. Dr. Dobromir Dimitrov. He says that the idea was born during the award ceremony of the 2015 National Young Medic Campaign. Minimally invasive surgery also has its history at the Medical University - Pleven. It started in the early 2000s. The exhibition includes the first made miniature of the Da Vinci Si robotic surgical system, a miniature of the HIFU device model JC HIFU, a tumor ablation system donated by the partner university in Chongqing, China, as well as over 40 instruments and devices related to the history of minimally invasive surgery. Among them are an urethroscope from 1967 and one of the first mechanical staplers for gastrointestinal surgery from 1960. Also on display is a robotic instrument that was used to operate the world's first robotic system, the Da Vinci Standard, in 1999. Also included are the instruments that were used to perform the first robot-assisted surgery in Bulgaria by Prof. Dr. Grigor Gorchev and his team. The museum also exhibits laparoscopic instruments, devices and trocars used in clinical practice over the last 25 years.
The rapid development of technology in a very short time is evident from the enormous change in devices and instruments. The equipment is becoming smaller, more intuitive, more convenient with many more options and programs. Instruments are becoming more comfortable, ergonomic, with more possibilities for grasping, coagulation and cutting.
