Medical robotics and the operating room of the future

Medical robotics is an evolving field with a relatively short history and limited market penetration, although some recent systems have shown some commercial success. Nevertheless, medical robotics shows great promise for improving patient care and may become a key component in the Operating Room of the Future (ORF), where high technology equipment will be integrated with medical imaging. This paper gives an overview of the medical robotics field and summarizes a recent ORF workshop in which participants concluded that standards are critical for an integrated approach.