Robotic technologies relevant to brain tumor surgery: a bibliometric and knowledge-mapping analysis of global trends...

To map the global development, collaboration structure, intellectual foundations, thematic evolution, and translational fronts of robotic technologies relevant to brain tumor surgery and cranial neuro-oncology. The Web of Science Core Collection was searched on August 25, 2026. English-language records were manually screened to include both clinically deployed robotic applications and engineering/preclinical systems with an explicit cranial tumor-related use case. Bibliometric and science-mapping analyses were performed with R/Bibliometrix-Biblioshiny and CiteSpace 6.4.R1. Of 329 records identified, 106 publications were included (98 article-type records and 8 reviews). The corpus spanned 1997-2026, 47 sources, and 620 authors, and accumulated 2,195 citations. The USA led country production (30 records) and citations (748). Universite Paris Cite was the most frequent affiliation (12 records), Sutherland GR the most prolific author (5 publications), and the International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery the leading source (9 publications). Keyword clustering identified ten communities spanning image-guided targeting, robotic biopsy, force feedback, continuum/concentric-tube systems, frameless navigation, sensing, pediatric brainstem biopsy, and robot-guided local therapy. Recent bursts centered on diagnostic yield, efficacy, safety, and brain tumors. The mapped literature represents a translational continuum from clinically integrated stereotactic biopsy and tumor-directed intervention to emerging sensing, continuum robotics, and data-driven control. Bibliometric prominence does not establish clinical effectiveness. Further translation will require reliable sensing, compensation for tissue deformation, workflow integration, standardized reporting, and multicenter validation.