Applications of robotics in surgery

The end of the 20th century brought an increased use of computerized technology in medicine and surgery. The development of robotic surgical systems opened new approaches in general and cardiac surgery. Two leading robotic companies, Computer Motion, Inc. and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. have developed the Zeus and Da Vinci respectively, as very effective tools for surgeons to use. Both of them consist of a surgeon console, located far from the operating table, and three robotic arms, which reproduce inside the patient's body the movements performed by the surgeon at the console. The advantages of robotic surgery over laparoscopy and open surgery include: better eye-hand coordination, tremor filtration, steadiness of camera, 3-D vision, motion scale, more degrees of freedom for instruments etc. Of course, there are also some disadvantages, like the lack of tactile feedback, long time of set up, long learning curve, high cost etc. However, the advantages seem to overcome the disadvantages and more and more operations are conducted using robots. The impact of robotics in surgery is therefore very promising and in the future it will probably open even more new ways in the surgical practice and education both in Romania and across the globe.