The history of robotic surgery and its evolution: when illusion becomes reality.

Alexander Morrell,Alexander Charles Morrell-Junior,Andre Luiz Gioia Morrell,Allan Gioia Morrell,Francisco Tustumi,Jose Mauricio Freitas Mendes,Luiz Gustavo De-Oliveira-E-Silva

doi:10.1590/0100-6991e-20202798

Abstract

The term "robot" was concepted in the beginning of last century, coming originally from the Czech word "robota", meaning "labor". More recently, computer assistance and robotics based in the telepresence and virtual reality concept have been applied to surgical procedures. The application of robots in surgery dates approximately 35 years, experiencing significant growth in the last two decades fueled by the advent of advanced technologies. Despite its recent and brief status in surgery history, robotic technology has already proven its enhanced visualization, superior dexterity and precision during minimally invasive procedures. Currently, the worldwide diffused and predominant robot system used in surgery is Da Vinci by Intuitive Surgical, however robotic surgery evolution is far from over, with multiple potential competitors on the horizon pushing forward its paradigms. We aim to describe the history and evolution of robotic surgery in the last years as well as present its future perspectives.

Highlights

The term and existence of “robots’’ is relatively new, the idea of autonomously operating machines can be dated for centuries
The virtual reality pioneer Scott Fisher developed the first head mounted display (HMD), which immersed the viewer in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment while the engineer Phil Green developed a system of robotic telemanipulation for microsurgery at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
The most advanced multi-port da Vinci Xi model has overcome the majority of the patient cart and arm limitations in the previous prototype as well as has come up with new technology, upgrading even more the robotic surgery

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The term and existence of “robots’’ is relatively new, the idea of autonomously operating machines can be dated for centuries. The term “robot” was concepted by Joseph Capek in 1921, in his play Rossom’s Universal Robots, which originally came from the Czech word “robota”, meaning “labor”. Robotics, automation, and virtual reality are quite new concepts, and more recently they have been applied to healthcare assistance. The last decades have witnessed an exponential growth in medical technology, with the robotic platform applied to surgery one of its most remarkable events. Robots were used in the surgical world more than 30 years ago, and have become a new standard of care, yielding interesting results. The purpose of this article was to describe the history, evolution, current status, and perspectives of robotic surgery

BACKGROUND

A New Era?

CONCLUSION