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Robotic surgery



 
 
Robotic surgery is the use of robot
Robot

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an Electromechanics which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has Intention or Agency of its own....
s in performing surgery
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
. Three major advances aided by surgical robots have been remote surgery
Remote surgery

Remote surgery is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location. It is a form of telepresence....
, minimally invasive surgery and unmanned surgery. Major advantages of robotic surgery are precision, miniaturization, smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, less pain, and quicker healing time. Further advantages are articulation beyond normal manipulation and three-dimensional magnification.

b>1985 a robot, the PUMA 560, was used to place a needle for a brain biopsy using CT guidance.






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Robotic surgery is the use of robot
Robot

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an Electromechanics which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has Intention or Agency of its own....
s in performing surgery
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
. Three major advances aided by surgical robots have been remote surgery
Remote surgery

Remote surgery is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location. It is a form of telepresence....
, minimally invasive surgery and unmanned surgery. Major advantages of robotic surgery are precision, miniaturization, smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, less pain, and quicker healing time. Further advantages are articulation beyond normal manipulation and three-dimensional magnification.

History

In 1985 a robot, the PUMA 560, was used to place a needle for a brain biopsy using CT guidance. In 1988, the PROBOT, developed at Imperial College London
Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a United Kingdom university in London that focuses primarily on science, engineering, medicine and business.Imperial is regularly placed in the top three in the Times National University League Table along with Oxford and Cambridge....
, was used to perform prostatic surgery. The ROBODOC from Integrated Surgical Systems was introduced in 1992 to mill out precise fittings in the femur
Femur

The femur, or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs....
 for hip replacement. Further development of robotic systems was carried out by Intuitive Surgical
Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical Inc. is a corporation that manufactures robotic surgical systems, most notably the da Vinci Surgical System. The da Vinci Surgical System allows surgery to be performed remotely using robotic manipulators....
 with the introduction of the da Vinci Surgical System
Da Vinci Surgical System

The da Vinci Surgical System made by Intuitive Surgical is a robotic surgery system designed to enable complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach, developed by Carl Wouters....
 and Computer Motion with the AESOP and the ZEUS robotic surgical system. (Intuitive Surgical bought Computer Motion in 2003; ZEUS is no longer being actively marketed.)

The da Vinci Surgical System
Da Vinci Surgical System

The da Vinci Surgical System made by Intuitive Surgical is a robotic surgery system designed to enable complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach, developed by Carl Wouters....
 comprises three components: a surgeon’s console, a patient-side robotic cart with 4 arms manipulated by the surgeon (one to control the camera and three to manipulate instruments), and a high-definition 3D vision system. Articulating surgical instruments are mounted on the robotic arms which are introduced into the body through cannula
Cannula

A cannula or canula is a tube which can be inserted into the body, often for the delivery or removal of fluid.Decannulation is the permanent removal of a cannula , especially of a tracheostomy cannula....
s. The surgeon’s hand movements are scaled and filtered to eliminate hand tremor then translated into micro-movements of the proprietary instruments. The camera used in the system provides a true stereoscopic picture transmitted to a surgeon's console. The da Vinci System is FDA
Food and Drug Administration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is an Government agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, dietary supplements, Medications, vaccines, Biopharmaceutical, blood transfusion, medical devices, Electromagnetic radiation-emitting devices, veteri...
 cleared for a variety of surgical procedures including surgery for prostate cancer, hysterectomy and mitral valve repair, and is used in more than 800 hospitals in the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 and Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. The da Vinci System was used in 48,000 procedures in 2006 and sells for about $1.2 million.

  • In 1997 a reconnection of the fallopian tubes operation was performed successfully in Cleveland using ZEUS.


  • In May 1998, Dr. Friedrich-Wilhelm Mohr using the Da Vinci surgical robot performed the first robotically assisted heart bypass at the Leipzig Heart Centre in Germany
    Germany

    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
    .


  • On 2 September 1999, Dr. Randall Wolf and Dr. Robert Michler performed the first robotically assisted heart bypass in the USA at The Ohio State University.


  • In October 1999 the world's first surgical robotics beating heart coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) was performed in Canada using the ZEUS surgical robot.


  • In 2001, Prof. Marescaux used the "Zeus" robot to perform a cholecystectomy
    Cholecystectomy

    Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Despite the development of non-surgical techniques, it is the most common method for treating symptomatic gallstones, although there are other indications for the procedure, including carcinoma....
     on a pig in Strasbourg
    Strasbourg

    Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
    , France
    France

    France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
     while in New York
    New York

    The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
    .


  • In September 2001, Dr. Michel Gagner used the Zeus robotic system to perform a cholecystectomy on a woman in Strasbourg, France while in New York.


  • The first unmanned robotic surgery took place in May 2006 in Italy.


  • In January 2009, Dr. Todd Tillmanns reported results of the largest multi-institutional study on the use of da-Vinci robotic surgical system in gynecologic oncology and included learning curves for current and new users as a method to assess acquisition of their skills using the device.


Applications


General surgery

Many general surgical procedures can now be performed using the state of the art robotic surgical system. In 2007, the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago. It is the second member of the University of Illinois system and is the largest university in the Chicago metropolitan area, serving approximately 25,000 students within 15 colleges, including the nation's largest medical scho...
 medical team, lead by Prof. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti, performed the world's first ever robotic pancreatectomy and also the Midwests fully robotic Whipple surgery, which is the most complicated and demanding procedure of the abdomen. In April 2008, the same team of surgeons performed the world's first fully minimally invasive liver resection for living donor transplantation, removing 60% of the patient's liver, yet allowing him to leave the hospital just a couple of days after the procedure, in very good condition. Furthermore the patient can also leave with less pain than a usual surgery due to the four puncture holes and not a scar by a surgeon.

Cardiothoracic surgery

Robot-assisted MIDCAB and Endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) surgery are being performed with the da Vinci system. Mitral valve
Mitral valve

The mitral valve is a dual-flap heart valve in the heart that lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle . The mitral valve and the tricuspid valve are known collectively as the atrioventricular valves because they lie between the atria and the ventricles of the heart and control the flow of blood....
 repairs and replacements have been performed. East Carolina University, Greenville(Dr W. Randolph Chitwood), Saint Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta(Dr Douglas A. Murphy), and Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati(Dr J. Michael Smith) have popularized this procedure and proved its durability with multiple publications. Since the first robotic cardiac procedure performed in the USA in 1999, The Ohio State University, Columbus(Dr. Juan Crestanello, Dr. Paul Vesco) has performed CABG, mitral valve, esophagectomy, lung resection, tumor resections, among other robotic assisted procedures and serves as a training site for other surgeons. The University of Chicago, (Dr. Sudhir Srivastava) has performed a number of the TECAB procedures and was recently featured in the USA Today
USA Today

'USA TODAY' is a national United States daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Allen Neuharth. The paper has the widest newspaper circulation of any newspaper in the United States , and among English-language broadsheets, it comes second worldwide, behind only the 2.6 million daily paid copies of The Times of...
 on 30 April 2008.

Cardiology and electrophysiology

The Stereotaxis Magnetic Navigation System (MNS) has been developed to increase precision and safe in ablation procedures for arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is a cardiac arrhythmia that involves the two upper chambers of the heart. It can often be identified by taking a pulse and observing that the heartbeats don't occur at regular intervals, but a conclusive indication of AF is the absence of P waves on an electrocardiogram ....
 while reducing radiation exposure for the patient and physician, and the system utilizes two magnets to remotely steer catheters. The system allows for automated 3-D mapping of the heart and vasculature, and MNS has also been used in interventional cardiology for guiding stents and leads.

Gastrointestinal surgery

Multiple types of procedures have been performed with either the Zeus or da Vinci robot systems, including bariatric surgery
Bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery, also known as weight loss surgery, refers to the various surgical procedures performed to treat obesity by modification of the gastrointestinal tract to reduce nutrient intake and/or absorption....
.

Gynecology

Robotic surgery in gynecology is one of the fastest growing fields of robotic surgery. This includes the use of the da Vinci surgical system in benign gynecology and gynecologic oncology. Robotic surgery can be used to treat fibroids, abnormal periods, endometriosis, ovarian tumors, pelvic prolapse, and female cancers. Using the robotic system, gynecologists can perform hysterectomies, myomectomies, and lymph node biopsies. The need for large abdominal incisions is virtually eliminated.

Gynecologic Oncology

Robot assisted hysterectomies and cancer staging are being performed using da-Vinci robotic system. The University of Tennessee, Memphis (Dr. Todd Tillmanns, Dr. Saurabh Kumar), Northwestern University (Dr. Patrick Lowe), Aurora Health Center (Dr. Scott Kamelle), West Virginia University (Dr. Jay Bringman) and The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga (Dr. Donald Chamberlain)have extensively studied the use of robotic surgery and found it to improve morbidity and mortality of patients with gynecologic cancers. They have also for the first time reported robotic surgery learning curves for current and new users as a method to assess acquisition of their skills using the device.

Neurosurgery

Several systems for stereotactic intervention
Stereotactic surgery

Stereotactic surgery or stereotaxy is a minimally-invasive form of surgery intervention which makes use of a three-dimensional coordinates system to locate small targets inside the body and to perform on them some action such as ablation , biopsy, lesion, injection, Deep brain stimulation, implantation, radiosurgery etc....
 are currently on the market. MD Robotic's NeuroArm
NeuroArm

NeuroArm is a Robotic surgery. It was specifically designed for neurosurgery and can perform both microsurgery and stereotaxy. It was designed to be image-guided and can perform procedures inside an Magnetic resonance imaging....
 is the world’s first MRI-compatible surgical robot.

Orthopedics

The ROBODOC system was released in 1992 by the Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc.

Pediatrics

Surgical robotics has been used in many types of pediatric surgical procedures including: tracheoesophageal fistula
Tracheoesophageal fistula

A 'tracheoesophageal fistula' is an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the Vertebrate trachea. TEF is a common congenital abnormality, but when occurring late in life is usually the sequela of surgical procedures such as a laryngectomy....
 repair, cholecystectomy
Cholecystectomy

Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Despite the development of non-surgical techniques, it is the most common method for treating symptomatic gallstones, although there are other indications for the procedure, including carcinoma....
, nissen fundoplication
Nissen fundoplication

Nissen fundoplication is a surgical procedure to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease and hiatus hernia. In GERD it is usually performed when medical therapy has failed, but with paraesophageal hiatus hernia, it is the first-line procedure....
, morgagni hernia repair, kasai portoenterostomy, congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a term applied to a variety of congenital disorder that involve abnormal development of the diaphragm . The term is used most commonly in reference to Bochdalek hernia, however it can also apply to Morgagni's hernia, diaphragm eventration and central tendon defects of the diaphragm....
 repair, and others. On January 17, 2002, surgeons at Children's Hospital of Michigan
Children's Hospital of Michigan

DMC Children?s Hospital of Michigan is located in Detroit, Michigan. It is part of the Detroit Medical Center. It is an international provider of in pediatric neurology and neurosurgery, cardiology, oncology, diagnostic services including Positron Emission Tomography and MRI....
 in Detroit performed the nation's first advanced computer-assisted robot-enhanced surgical procedure at a children's hospital.

Radiosurgery

The CyberKnife
Cyberknife

The CyberKnife is a frameless robotic radiosurgery system invented by John R. Adler, a Stanford University Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology....
 Robotic Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery

Radiosurgery, also known as stereotactic radiotherapy, is a medical procedure which allows Non-invasive treatment of benign and malignant conditions, arteriovenous malformation , and some functional disorders by means of directed beams of ionizing radiation....
 System uses image-guidance and computer controlled robotics to treat tumors throughout the body by delivering multiple beams of high-energy radiation to the tumor from virtually any direction.

Urology

The da Vinci robot is commonly used to remove the prostate gland for cancer, repair obstructed kidneys, repair bladder abnormalities and remove diseased kidneys. New minimally invasive robotic devices using steerable flexible needles are currently being developed for use in prostate brachytherapy
Prostate brachytherapy

Brachytherapy is a type of radiotherapy, or radiation treatment, offered to certain cancer patients. There are two types of brachytherapy ? high dose-rate and low dose-rate ....
. A few leading urologists in the field of robotic urological surgery are Drs. Ashutosh Tewari
Ashutosh Tewari

Ashutosh K. Tewari is a board certified United States urologist, oncologist, and clinical researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in New York City where he directs the Institute of Prostate Cancer and Robotic Surgery....
, Mani Menon
Mani Menon

Mani Menon in Trichur, India, is an United States surgeon and the director of the Vattikuti Urology Institute at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI....
, Patrick Walsh, Peter Schlegel, Douglas Scherr
Douglas Scherr

Douglas S. Scherr, M.D. is an American surgeon and specialist in Urologic Oncology. He is currently the Clinical Director of Urologic Oncology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City....
 and Darracott Vaughan .

Limitations

Current equipment is expensive to obtain, maintain and operate. If one of the older model non-autonomous robots is being used, surgeons and staff need special training. Data collection of procedures and their outcomes remains limited.

Miniature robotics

As scientists seek to improve the versatility and utility of robotics in surgery, some are attempting to miniaturize the robots. For example, the University of Nebraska Medical Center
University of Nebraska Medical Center

The is a Medical education in the United States located on 42nd and Emile Street in Omaha, Nebraska, Nebraska. UNMC is one of the largest medical centers in the surrounding area within Nebraska and Iowa and is home to many students from around the state....
 has led a multi-campus effort to provide collaborative research on mini-robotics among surgeons, engineers and computer scientists. Scientists at Hebrew University have also developed a miniature robot to navigate through the bloodstream.

Pediatric robotics

The Center for Robotic Surgery at Children's Hospital Boston provides a high level of expertise in pediatric robotic surgery. Specially-trained surgeons use a high-tech robot to perform complex and delicate operations through very small surgical openings. The results are less pain, faster recoveries, shorter hospital stays, smaller scars, and happier patients and families.

In 2001, Children's Hospital Boston was the first pediatric hospital to acquire a surgical robot. Today, surgeons use the technology for many procedures and perform more pediatric robotic surgeries than any other hospital in the world. Children's Hospital physicians have developed a number of new applications to expand the use of the robot, and train surgeons from around the world on its use.

See also

  • Telemedicine
    Telemedicine

    Telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred via telephone, the Internet or other networks for the purpose of consulting, and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations....
  • Vattikuti Urology Institute
    Vattikuti Urology Institute

    The Vattikuti Urology Institute at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan is a clinical and research center for urological care. The VUI is notable for being the first institute to establish robotic surgery as a treatment for patients with prostate cancer....
  • NeuroArm
    NeuroArm

    NeuroArm is a Robotic surgery. It was specifically designed for neurosurgery and can perform both microsurgery and stereotaxy. It was designed to be image-guided and can perform procedures inside an Magnetic resonance imaging....
  • CyberKnife
    Cyberknife

    The CyberKnife is a frameless robotic radiosurgery system invented by John R. Adler, a Stanford University Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology....
  • Da Vinci Surgical System
    Da Vinci Surgical System

    The da Vinci Surgical System made by Intuitive Surgical is a robotic surgery system designed to enable complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach, developed by Carl Wouters....
  • Remote Magnetic Navigation
    Remote magnetic navigation

    Remote Magnetic NavigationRemote Magnetic Navigation, employed by companies such as Stereotaxis, is an emerging technology in interventional cardiology....
  • Zeus Surgical System
  • Robot-assisted heart surgery
    Robot-Assisted Heart Surgery

    Minimally invasive robot-assisted heart surgery is a procedure that allows heart surgery to be performed through tiny incisions in the patient?s chest....


Sources

  • Monkman. G.J., S. Hesse, R. Steinmann & H. Schunk – Robot Grippers - Wiley, Berlin 2007.
  • Füchtmeier. B., S. Egersdoerfer, R. Mai, R. Hente, D. Dragoi, G.J. Monkman & M. Nerlich - Reduction of femoral shaft fractures in vitro by a new developed reduction robot system "RepoRobo" - Injury - 35 ppSA113-119, Elsevier 2004.
  • Daniel Ichbiah
    Daniel Ichbiah

    Daniel Ichbiah is a French author of several books on musical and technical topics. He has written a biography of Bill Gates which was published in some 15 countries and also a big book about Robots, which appeared in the USA and Germany as well as in France....
    . Robots : From Science Fiction to Technological Revolution.
  • Dharia SP, Falcone T. Robotics in reproductive medicine. Fertil Steril 84:1-11,2005.
  • Pott PP, Scharf H-P, Schwarz MLR, Today’s State of the Art of surgical Robotics, Journal of Computer Aided Surgery, 10,2, 101-132, 2005.
  • Lorincz A, Langenburg S, Klein MD. Robotics and the pediatric surgeon. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2003 Jun;15(3):262-6.