MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS)— The Milwaukee VA uses a brand new robotic surgical tool to change the way they care for Veterans.

Surgeons at the Milwaukee VA have a new tool to perform operations with. It's a new version of a robotic surgical system that's changing the way they can operate on patients.

Rana Higgins is no stranger to the process of scrubbing in. She's been a general surgeon with the Milwaukee VA for the past five years.

For her surgeries, she doesn’t touch the patient while she operates. She will actually be across the room operating with the newest version of the Davinci. Dr. Higgins will use her hands while looking into a 3D view of the operation.

Meanwhile, across the room the arms of the robot go to work and they are being controlled by her hands.

"This gives us a lot more flexibility with kind of making sure things aren't too crowded around the patient. We can adjust to what the best position for the patient is because we can move the robot to accommodate that,"

The Milwaukee VA says this new version of the device allows a wider range of surgeries to be done without having to open up the patients.

"Anything we can do to give them a minimally invasive approach. It will speed up their approach, less time in the hospital, faster recover," Milwaukee VA General Surgeon, Rana Higgins said.

The VA says the Davinci expands the amount of surgeries they are able to do. This means less veterans having to go outside their coverage or having to drive far distances to get the procedures they need.

"The VA systems up north don't have anything like this," Higgins said.

Making it one of the only available options for veterans to get procedures done in Wisconsin.

The VA also says they have been able to perform lung surgeries that they were not able to before, because of this device.