In the last couple of months, Adventist Health Castle has expanded its offerings in both surgical and stroke care, with a goal of improving patient treatment and recovery close to home.
O’ahu residents can now access the newest generation of robotic-assisted surgical technology — the da Vinci 5 surgical system — currently only available on island at the Kailua-based hospital. Across the state, the Hilo Benioff Medical Center is the only other hospital using this latest model, while other health care facilities utilize the fourth-generation system, according to Dr. Jon “Kai” Yamaguchi of Adventist Health Castle.
“At the current time, this is the most advanced surgical system in the world,” he says, noting that technology is always changing.
What’s the differences in capabilities between the models? He likened it to the new iPhone 18.
“In terms of the cases you can do, it’s very similar,” Yamaguchi told Aloha State Daily. “But can you make a call on your iPhone 5? Of course, you can. Can you make that same call on your brand-new iPhone 18? Absolutely. But the way you interact with the equipment, the technology and the advancements in the hardware and the software are what really make the difference.”
He adds that the da Vinci 5, which was just released last year and acquired by Castle several months ago, has 10,000 times more computing power; the visualization is also clearer; and the new force feedback feature allows surgeons to physically "feel" tissue tension instead of solely relying on visual cues.
For patients, one benefit of robot-assisted surgeries is “quicker recovery with less tissue trauma.”
“The less force you can put into a piece of tissue, the less likely you are to injure that tissue,” Yamaguchi explained. “We’re trying to get patients better, faster, with as little cosmetic impact as we can. If I can do a surgery in a way that leaves a patient that much more confident, feeling at their best, that’s certainly a priority.”
Ultimately, he hopes the new system will help expand the number of cases the hospital can do, while improving individual care and giving patients the option to be treated at home. Internally, he says, part of that is shortening the learning curve for new robotic surgeons.
Raised in California, Yamaguchi told ASD that he knew he wanted to become a doctor at a young age. He graduated from medical school at Temple University in 1999 and went on to train in general surgery and transplantation.
“Medicine was a career that had a good balance of science, objectivity, personal interaction, and the technical aspect with surgery,” said Yamaguchi, who also served in the U.S. Army Reserve.
He’s been practicing in Hawaiʻi since 2013, exclusively at Castle since 2021, and is nearing his 1,000th robotic-assisted surgery so far.
When asked what this milestone means to him, Yamaguchi said, “It’s just a number, but I think it shows my commitment, as well as my institution’s commitment to not just provide OK surgery with OK results but really trying to be a front-runner for our island and our patients.”
“Healthcare is not an easy profession, but it is very fulfilling,” he continued. “We are the most geographically isolated landmass that’s populated in the world. We need qualified and quality healthcare practitioners here – there’s always a shortage but having the latest generation of technology on our island, allows patients to receive the same, if not better, care than patients across the country and the world.”
Learn more about the da Vinci 5, please at AdvenistHealthCastle.org/Surgery or call 808-263-5090.
Stroke care
Earlier this month, Adventist Health Castle also debuted the state’s only Volt Pulsed Field Ablation System, an advanced treatment option for atrial fibrillation, which increases the risk of stroke, heart failure and other serious complications.
Unlike traditional methods, The Volt Pulsed Field Ablation System uses targeted electrical pulses to treat the tissue causing the irregular heartbeat, while reducing the risk of damage to surrounding tissues.
Dr. Ojeda-Melendez sees patients at:
Adventist Health Castle Specialty Care
642 ʻUlukahiki Street, Suite 103, Kailua
808-263-5009
For more information, visit AdventistHealth.org/WOjeda.
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