The equipment has been installed at the Edinburgh hospital

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children said it was the first in Europe to introduce the �400,000 facility.

Surgeons said the fully-computerised system was a "major advance".

The system allows the operating theatre to be set up for a particular procedure or surgeon at the touch of a button.

The hospital said that keyhole surgery meant less pain, minimal scarring and faster recovery for children.

No other children's hospital in Europe has yet installed this system Graeme Millar Sick Kids Friends Foundation

The money to buy the operating system was raised by the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, a charitable organisation which supports the work of the hospital.

A spokesperson for the hospital said it would enhance its reputation as a leading centre for minimally invasive surgery on babies and children.

Consultant paediatric surgeon Gordon MacKinlay said: "This is a major advance that puts us right in the forefront of developments in this branch of surgery, which offers so many advantages to children.

"The quality of care we offer to children was already very high and this will help us strengthen that even further."

Graeme Millar, chairman of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said the hospital's reputation for keyhole surgery had been established with NHS funds.

He said the new system, which was handed over on Monday, was the "icing on the cake".

Complex procedure

"This donation will support the further development of this service and help build on this reputation by providing this important state of the art equipment," he said.

"No other children's hospital in Europe has yet installed this system, although there are several in the United States, where surgeons from the hospital saw it in operation."

A spokesperson for the hospital said it had been at the forefront of developing keyhole surgery on children.

The complex procedure sees surgeons operate through small incisions while being guided by images relayed from a microscopic camera inside the child's body.

The system has added advantages for the surgeon in providing magnified views of the operation via special monitors Hospital spokesperson

Some of the instruments used on tiny infants are as small as two millimetres.

However, it takes a long time to set up traditional operating theatres for keyhole surgery, with each surgeon requiring a different configuration of cameras and surgical equipment.

"The new Integrated Operating Theatre System overcomes these problems," said the spokesperson.

"This fully computerised system allows all the equipment to be adjusted to pre-set levels.

"The theatre can be set up for a particular procedure or for use by a particular surgeon at the touch of a button.

"The system has added advantages for the surgeon in providing magnified views of the operation via special monitors."