Introduction
Robotic Surgery: Current Success and Future Direction
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During 2007 alone, around 20,000 medical procedures were conducted by means of surgeon-controlled robots. This has attracted huge interest in robotic surgery.
Aimed at engineers, scientists and surgeons, a two-day seminar on robotic surgery was organised by the
Mechatronics, Informatics and Control Group of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The chairman of the event was Professor Jian Dai of King’s College London.
The seminar was held on 18-19 March 2008 at IMechE headquarters to present a state-of-the-art update on the current status of robotic surgery in the UK, Europe, USA and in China with keynote speeches from leading international experts in robotic surgery.
The seminar offered a forum to discuss the recent developments in robotic surgery, to hear about patient feedback, to view the medical equipment market and to debate future directions of surgical robotics. Over 10 leading experts gave presentations ranging from endoscopic microcapsules, laryngeal minimally invasive surgical robots, and orthopaedics to mechanisms (technologies) for surgery including hyper-redundant surgical arms, sensory-guided surgical systems, image-guided robotic surgery and articular human joints.
The speakers included leading experts in medical robotics, surgical robotics, micro-robotics, sensing, robotic mechanisms, surgeons and consultants:
- Professor Paolo Dario of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna at Pisa
- Professor Brian Davies of Imperial College
- Professor Shuxin Wang of Tianjin University
- Professor Rezia Molfino of Genoa University
- Professor Darwin Caldwell of the Italian Institute of Technology
- Professor Peter Brett of Aston University (IMechE Medical Engineering Division Chair)
- Professor Ibrahim Esat of Brunel University
- Dr Patrick Finlay of Prosurgics Ltd
Over 90 delegates participated in the seminar and there were seven co–sponsors:
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME UK Section)
- Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)
- Guys Hospital
- Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
- Surgical Trainees interested in Laparoscopic and Robotic Urological Surgery (STILUS)
The seminar was sponsored by Mantis Surgical Ltd, a division of Unitech UK.
A radical prostatectomy using a robot was transmitted live on the following day to the Seminar. The operation was performed at Guy’s Hospital, London, by Mr Prokar Dasgupta, urological surgeon at Guy’s Hospital and King’s College London School of Medicine.
This two-day event provided an excellent opportunity for a group of surgeons and mechanical engineers to stimulate collaboration between the professions, and push forward developments in robotic surgery.
Professor Jian Dai
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