[Current Status of Robot-assisted Cardiac Surgery in Japan]

Endoscopic surgery has been introduced as a minimally invasive procedure in other fields. On the other hand, the introduction of surgical robots has made endoscopic surgery possible in cardiac surgery. Coronary artery bypass surgery includes minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass( MIDCAB) via small thoracotomy after robotic internal thoracic artery harvesting and totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass with a robotic anastomosis. We refer to intracardiac surgery performed via only ports as "keyhole cardiac surgery". Robotic keyhole mitral valve repair is far superior to median sternotomy or minimally invasive cardiac surgery( MICS). Currently, the "da Vinci surgical system" is the sole leader in surgical robotics, but there are already many surgical robots, including new concepts. In Japan, the "hinotori surgical robot system" is already on the market, and it is expected that the indications for surgery will expand in the future.