Robotics in cardiac surgery.
BACKGROUND
The current status of surgical telemanipulators in the field of cardiac surgery is best described as a device in search of applications, as its role has not been clearly defined.


RESULTS
Basic robotic technological research and development needs to focus on two key areas: (a) developing methods for modeling patient and surgical procedures with the ability to employ that customized information in the successful completion of a minimally invasive operation; and (b) developing novel human machine interactions that can overcome the barriers we currently face in performing surgical tasks using telemanipulators.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant breakthroughs in these areas will then facilitate the construction and employment of enabling robotic systems, each with its specific clinical application.
Vassiliades
Thomas A
TA
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. thomas.vassiliades@emory healthcare.org
D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D006801:Humans; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D012371:Robotics; D013906:Thoracoscopy