Robotic surgery: from autonomous systems to intelligent tools

INTRODUCTION In recent years Medical Robotics has seen a transition from systems that have been initially proposed and developed by enthusiastic technologists, towards those that are cost-effective systems that are essential for surgeon application. This change from technology " push " to surgeon " demand " has resulted in a different approach to medical robotic systems, which will hopefully result in a greater use of these systems. This presentation will not only deal with the robotic technologies that have been developed in the past, but will also attempt to consider what is needed in the future to ensure their widespread application in the operating room. Many of the obstacles to their use are non-technological, related to the needs of surgeons, patients and hospital trusts. The talk focuses on practical robots that are being used in the operating room, rather than the more exaggerated and futuristic claims, such as those of nano-robots that are assembled inside the body and freely rove around the blood stream. These more speculative research topics, whilst exciting, are in my view less relevant to the patient needs of the next few decades.