Robotics: Past, Present, and Future Considerations

Surgical robots, although relatively new, have developed quickly. The development of surgical robots is reviewed in this article. The surgical robots have applications in many surgical specialties. The most widely used surgical robotic system is the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) that is based on an immersive, "master-slave" paradigm which enhances the surgeon's abilities. Surgical robotics is changing rapidly, and any development in surgical robots in future will allow greater application of robotic devices to increasingly more difficult procedures and hard to access anatomical sites, with significant improvement in patient outcomes. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.