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In this article:
- What is Robotic Surgery
- History of Robotic Surgery
- Uses of Robotic Surgery
- Limitations of Robotic Surgery
What is Robotic Surgery?
The process of using of robots to perform surgery is known as Robotic surgery. Robotic surgery has been contributing to the field of medical science to a great extent. The important developments in this field include remote surgery, unmanned surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The reason why robotic surgery is important is that such surgery is extremely precise and is done under completely controlled conditions. Other than this, surgical robots are capable of being completely automatic in the sense that they can work without the need of a human surgeon supervising them. Sometimes, however, such surgical robots may also be used in addition to a human surgeon.
History of Robotic Surgery
The beginning of robotic surgery can be traced back to 1985 when the Cody Evander robot was controlled through CT to place a needle for a brain biopsy. For the first time, prostatic surgery was conducted with the help of a robot in England in 1988. Since then, a lot has changed in the field of robotic surgery with new and more advanced robots taking over the job of the older ones. The da Vinci surgical robot is capable of doing complex surgeries. In 2004, it assisted 16,000 surgeries in more than 300 hospitals in the US and Europe. On the other hand, a patient underwent cholecystectomy with the help of the robot Zeus in 2001. The world’s first unmanned robotic surgery was done in May 2006 in Italy.
Uses of Robotic Surgery
Robots can be used in various fields of surgery where they may serve as assistants or as the only ‘person’ performing the surgery. The uses of robotic surgery are as follows:
- Cardiac surgery
Robots have been used to conduct endoscopic coronary bypass surgery and also to perform mistral valve replacement in the heart. Today, endoscopic surgeries while keeping the heart closed are done with the help of robots.
- Gastrointestinal surgery
Robots, especially the Zeus and da Vinci robots have been used to perform various types of gastrointestinal surgeries. This also includes the bariatric surgery.
- Gynecology
Robots have been put to use to perform surgeries of the reproductive tract among women. Other than this, ablative surgeries have also been done using robots.
- Neurosurgery
This is the most advanced use of robotic surgery. Robots have shown the capability to perform the utero surgery. However, this has only been experimented on animal models and porting this to humans is still to be done. If it is implemented properly, it can help cure certain cases of spinal malformations which would be a major development in the field of neurosurgery. The first robot capable of performing a neurotic surgery was the PUMA.
- Pediatrics
Robots have helped perform a number of pediatric surgeries. These surgeries include complicated surgeries such as tracheoesophageal fistula repair, cholecystectomy, nissen fundoplication, morgagni hernia repair, kasai portoenterostomy, congenital diaphragmatic hernia repair etc.
- Urology
Use of robots in performing urological surgeries has seen a rise in recent years. In 2001, there were only 247 surgeries where robots were used. This number shot up to 2648 in 2003. In 2005, over 16,500 urological surgeries were performed with the help of robots. The use of robots in radical prostatectomy surgery has resulted in increased advantages to the patients. These advantages include low blood loss, shorter recovery periods and shorter stays in hospitals etc.
Limitations of Robotic Surgery
Though the future of robotic surgery seems to be bright, there are some crucial limitations of robotic surgery. If these limitations can be overcome, then robotic surgery will play an even more important role in the field of medical science than now. The limitations that hinder its growth at this time are the expensive equipment which also needs higher maintenance and operation costs.
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