ABSTRACT
Surgeons first attempted to introduce robotics into the operating room in the early 1990s. Orthopedic surgeons developed the first clinically successful robot, ‘‘Robodoc,’’ used in total hip replacement [1,2]. In general surgery, two concepts motivated robotics research. Once video laparoscopic surgery became commonplace in the operating room, surgeons realized that a robot might easy replace the camera holder. Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Defense envisioned military surgeons in remote places operating on wounded soldiers on the battlefields using telerobots [3]. Both robotic camera holders and telerobotic surgical systems have recently achieved approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in general surgery procedures. As a result, their use in American operating rooms has been rapidly escalating and surgeons are reporting a wide range of clinical experience.
