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Medical robotics is the future of science. Though one Da Vinci surgical robot costs roughly $1.7 million, surgeons who have used it say it is both remarkable and revolutionary. “I do a lot of gallbladder surgery,” explains Dr. Glen Gibson of Annapolis General Hospital. “Operating on livers, stomachs and colons used to be stem-to-stern incisions; I have had to take out (only) one gallbladder by traditional surgery in the last three years.” Robotic surgery promises quicker recovery times, less pain medication and fewer incisions, he adds.

Currently there are three types of robotic surgery systems: Supervisory-Controlled systems, Telesurgical systems and Shared-Control systems. Supervisory-Controlled systems (a.k.a. Computer Assisted Surgery) are the most automated of the three. The surgeon undertakes considerable prep work, inputs data into the robotic system, plans the course of action, takes x-rays, tests the robot’s motions, places the robot in the appropriate start position and oversees the robotic action to ensure everything goes as planned. The most famous prototype is the RoboDoc system developed by Integrated Surgical Systems, which is commonly used in orthopedic surgeries.

The Telesurgical type of robotic surgery system involves having a human direct the motions of the robotic system. The Da Vinci Surgical System, developed by Intuitive Surgical, is the most popular type of robotic telesurgical devices. The $1.5 million system is comprised of a viewing and control console, as well as three or four robotic arms. After the surgeon makes three or four incisions as small as a pencil, three or four stainless steel rods are inserted, with robotic arms holding them in place. One of the rods contains two endoscopic cameras, which provide the internal images to the human surgeon, and the other rods have surgical tools that may dissect, suture or perform other actions. Sitting at the viewfinder, the surgeon never touches the instruments directly, but instead directs the actions using a joystick to complete the surgery.

The Shared-Control System has the human doing the bulk of the work, with a robot assisting just to steady his hand or alert him to nearby soft tissue. Of the types of robotic surgery, the Da Vinci System’s Telesurgical method is attracting the most attention by improving upon existing surgical procedures without relinquishing all control. Right now, even the most intelligent robots are incapable of making their own decisions and adapting to complications. Perhaps in the future, autonomous robots will be able to perform entire surgeries on their own. Scientists are also looking into using medical robotics that will identify abnormalities in the human body and operate to fix them without human assistance.