From laparoscopic surgery to 3-D double console robot-assisted surgery

Abstract

The introduction of the laparoscopic surgery has led the progress of surgery towards a new area. In fact, it allows a minor surgical trauma, a better preservation of immune function, a better aesthetic results and contributes to reduce days of hospitalization. But laparoscopic technique presents some disadvantages: depth precision is lost, tactile feedback is reduced, instruments movements and degrees of motion of the surgeons hands are reduced. Robotic surgery opens the way for new interventional techniques and introduces some advantages such precision, miniaturization, smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, less pain and quicker healing time. Robotic surgery lets surgeon take his hand and eyes inside the human body without opening it. This is possible through, respectively, robotic arms and three-dimensional magnification. The three-dimensional vision is another advantage of the robotic surgery: in fact with laparoscopy, only two-dimensional image can be observed and the quality of images depends on the hand of an assistant. The robot plays exactly the same movements of the surgeon's hand and allows to operate in a more precise and minimally invasive way. Robotic surgery can be defined as the evolution of laparoscopic surgery which has maintained and contributed to emphasize the advantages.