Utility of the Highly Articulated Flex Robotic System for Head and Neck Procedures: A Cadaveric Study.
OBJECTIVE
Robotic head and neck surgery potentially reduces the morbidity associated with traditional open procedures. This study's goal was to employ a novel highly articulated robotic system (Flex Robotic System) for head and neck procedures, including a postauricular facelift approach thyroidectomy, submandibular gland (SMG) removal, and cervical lymphadenectomy.


METHODS
It was hypothesized that the Medrobotics Flex Robotic System could be used for transcervical head and neck surgical procedures.


METHODS
Three fresh upper body human cadavers were used. The Flex Robotic System was used to complete a thyroidectomy, neck dissection, and SMG removal on each cadaver.


RESULTS
A postauricular incision and flap was manually raised. The robotic system was positioned on the right side of the cadaver's head. The system's manually controlled flexible instruments and highly shapeable, robot-assisted scope were used to perform a thyroid lobectomy. Neck dissection and SMG removal were also performed.


CONCLUSIONS
Although a promising technology, the current robotic system (Intuitive Surgical Inc, Sunnyvale, California, USA) has limitations due to its rigid and large configuration, which decreases exposure and access. The new system's shapeable, computer-assisted scope seeks to reduce some of these difficulties and may be better adapted for transcervical approaches to the neck operations.
Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System, UPMC Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Hillary
H
Newsome
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Marburg, Baldingerstrasse, Marburg, Germany.
Magis
M
Mandapathil
Yonsei University Severance Hospital, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yoon Woo
YW
Koh
Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System, UPMC Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA duvvuriu@upmc.edu.
Umamaheswar
U
Duvvuri
D002102:Cadaver; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D037981:Neck Dissection / Q000379:methods*; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*
TORS; head and neck surgery; neck dissection; salivary gland; thyroid surgery