title: Medical telerobotic systems: current status and future trends.
abstract: Teleoperated medical robotic systems allow procedures such as surgeries, treatments, and diagnoses to be conducted across short or long distances while utilizing wired and/or wireless communication networks. This study presents a systematic review of the relevant literature between the years 2004 and 2015, focusing on medical teleoperated robotic systems which have witnessed tremendous growth over the examined period. A thorough insight of telerobotics systems discussing design concepts, enabling technologies (namely robotic manipulation, telecommunications, and vision systems), and potential applications in clinical practice is provided, while existing limitations and future trends are also highlighted. A representative paradigm of the short-distance case is the da Vinci Surgical System which is described in order to highlight relevant issues. The long-distance telerobotics concept is exemplified through a case study on diagnostic ultrasound scanning. Moreover, the present review provides a classification into short- and long-distance telerobotic systems, depending on the distance from which they are operated. Telerobotic systems are further categorized with respect to their application field. For the reviewed systems are also examined their engineering characteristics and the employed robotics technology. The current status of the field, its significance, the potential, as well as the challenges that lie ahead are thoroughly discussed.
authors: Nursing Department, School of Health and Science, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianou Street, 3036, Limassol, Cyprus. sotiris.avgousti@cut.ac.cy.
authors: Sotiris
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8427-9031
authors: S
authors: Avgousti
authors: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus, 75 Kalipoleos Street, P.O.BOX 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors: Eftychios G
authors: EG
authors: Christoforou
authors: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.|Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, 75 Kalipoleos Street, P.O.BOX 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors: Andreas S
authors: AS
authors: Panayides
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianou Street, 3036, Lemesos, Cyprus.
authors: Sotos
authors: S
authors: Voskarides
authors: Laboratoire PRISME-Universite d'Orleans, 63 Avenue de Lattre de Tassigny, 18020, Bourges, France.
authors: Cyril
authors: C
authors: Novales
authors: Laboratoire PRISME-Universite d'Orleans, 63 Avenue de Lattre de Tassigny, 18020, Bourges, France.
authors: Laurence
authors: L
authors: Nouaille
authors: Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, 75 Kalipoleos Street, P.O.BOX 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors: Constantinos S
authors: CS
authors: Pattichis
authors: Laboratoire PRISME-Universite d'Orleans, 63 Avenue de Lattre de Tassigny, 18020, Bourges, France.
authors: Pierre
authors: P
authors: Vieyres
mesh_terms: D012371:Robotics; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
keywords: Medical robotics; Surgical robotics; Telemanipulation; Telemedicine; Teleoperation; Telepresence; Telerobotics; mHealth