Visualized knowledge map of robot application in surgical field: a bibliometric analysis

This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the literature related to robotic surgery to understand the research hotspots and development trends in this field. We focus on the fields of robotics and surgery, having conducted a comprehensive literature review utilizing the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database, covering the period from 1999 to 2024. We quantified the annual publication count using GraphPad Prism. In addition, we analyzed authors, countries, institutions, journals, and keywords using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. China and the United States have emerged as the leading countries in terms of publication output. The primary keywords identified include "robot-assisted surgery" and "minimally invasive surgery," among others, which collectively formed eight effective clusters. Research on robotic surgery exhibits a trend of continuous growth, and this field is expected to remain a focal point in surgical studies in the future.