Surgical Robots
Advances in technology have worked their way into the operating room under the heading of minimally invasive surgical techniques. The field began with introducing laparoscopic techniques like a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, commonly known as gallbladder removal surgery (Brown University). This technique utilizes simple hand tools and electo-cautary working through ports placed in the patient aided by a fiber optic camera, allowing the surgeon to avoid making a large incision (Brown University). The next obvious step was to remove the surgeon from directly holding the tools, leading to the introduction of computer-assisted surgeries. This is currently represented by two surgery systems: Supervisory-controlled Robotic Surgery Systems and Shared-control Robotic Surgery Systems (Bonsor, 2009).