Editorial. Benefits of robotic spine surgery: the future is bright

Abstract

obotic spine surgery has had rapidly increasing adoption over the past decade. Initially cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004, SpineAssist (Mazor Robotics Ltd.) differed from the preexisting da Vinci surgical system (Intuitive Corp.), which was used by other specialties that employed a "masterslave" control. The approved spinal robotic system had a shared control system and was technically a "cobot," which is a computer-controlled robotic device designed to assist a person. While substantial innovation and development has occurred over the ensuing years, these computerassisted surgical systems still primarily aid in preoperative planning, surgical navigation, and placement of spinal instrumentation by the surgeon.