1 Day Event - Hands-on Activities Invite Kids to Explore Robotic Surgery at Liberty Science Center

LET'S OPERATE DAY INVITES GUESTS TO EXPLORE ROBOTIC SURGERY THROUGH HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES One-Day Event Hosted by Liberty Science Center, Intuitive Surgical and Mimic Technologies

Jersey City, NJ — February 12, 2013 — On Sunday, March 3, 2013, Liberty Science Center will welcome Intuitive Surgical and Mimic Technologies to host the first-ever Let’s Operate Day at LSC. Hands-on activities will help guests understand how minimally-invasive robotic tools are revolutionizing surgery, allowing patients to recover more quickly and with less pain thanks to smaller incisions and more precise procedures.

Utilizing the popular da Vinci ® Robotic Surgery exhibit which combines 3D HD vision and specialized instruments, guests take on the role of surgeon-in-training and practice with the same software, developed by Mimic Technologies, that actual surgeons use. Multiple kiosks are being added for the event so that guests can compete against one another in a series of challenges that will put their skills to the test.

Liberty Science Center’s long-running Live From… program allows appropriately-aged guests to witness the sights and sounds of live surgery via videoconferencing technology while asking questions of the surgical teams at various New Jersey hospitals. Normally only available to school groups during the week, a special pre-recorded version of the program will be available on Let’s Operate Day.

Dr. Michael C. Pitter (Chief of Gynecological Robotic & Minimally Invasive Surgery at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center), Dr. Michael D. Stifelman (Director of Robotic Surgery, NYU Langone Medical Center), and Dr. Stephen G. Pereira (Chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center) will be on hand to share their experiences with using robotic technology in the operating room. Guests will learn about surgical procedures, the equipment used, education paths leading to careers in medical professions, and healthy lifestyle choices.

Additional hands-on activities invite guests to dissect a cow’s eye to gain a better understanding of how vision works, practice the suturing techniques used to mend surgical incisions, and explore the various systems that work together inside the human body using LSC’s Anatomical Microscope.
Admission costs $16.75 adults, and $12.50 for children ages 2-12 and seniors 62+. Please visit LSC.org for more information.

About Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center (LSC.org) is a 300,000-square-foot learning center located in Liberty State Park on the Jersey City bank of the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty. Dedicated to bringing the excitement of science to people of all ages, Liberty Science Center houses 12 museum exhibition halls, a live animal collection with 110 species, giant aquariums, a 3D theater, the nation’s largest IMAX Dome Theater, live simulcast surgeries, tornado and hurricane-force wind simulators, K-12 classrooms and labs, and teacher-development programs. More than half a million students, teachers, and parents visit the Science Center each year, and tens of thousands more participate in the Center’s offsite and online programs.