Robotic Assisted Procedures

Factor Laparoscopic surgery robot Arthroplasty assist robot Percutaneous procedure robot... 

From a clinical perspective, there remain points to consider before using robots in healthcare applications. Yang et al. summarized these barriers, which include the risk of malfunctioning/failure, setup procedures that are yet to be established, such as procedures of patient safety control, and insurance policy [33]. Finally, the further development of new technologies and effective robotic instruments will increase the acceptance of robotic assistance in healthcare to an even higher level. We are certain that healthcare professionals of the future will employ assistive robotics without anxiety or technical barriers. However, the degree of automation... 

Goradia, T. M., R. H. Taylor, and L. M. Auer, Robot-assisted minimally invasive neurosurgical procedures First experimental experience, in Proc. First Joint Conference of CVRMed and MRCAS, 1997, Grenoble, France, Springer. 

Kumar, R., et al., Robot-assisted microneurosurgical procedures, comparative dexterity experiments, in Society for Minimally Invasive Therapy 9th Annual Meeting, Abstract Book, vol 6, supplement 1, 1997, Tokyo. 

Wood BJ, Banovac F, Friedman M et al (2003) CT-integrated programmable robot for image-guided procedures comparison of free-hand and robot-assisted techniques. J Vase Interv Radiol 14 S62... 

Fichtinger G, DeWeese TL, Patriciu A et al (2002) System for robotically assisted prostate biopsy and therapy with intraoperative CT guidance. Acad Radiol 9 60-74 Geis WP, Kim HC, Brennan EJ Jr, McAfee PC, Wang Y (1996) Robotic arm enhancement to accommodate improved efficiency and decreased resource utilization in complex minimally invasive surgical procedures. Stud Health Technol Inform 29 471-481... 

Masamune K, Fichtinger G, Patriciu A et al (2001) System for robotically assisted percutaneous procedures with computed tomography guidance. Comput Aided Surg 6 370-383... 

Since a majority of prostate brachytherapy treatments, manually performed or robot assisted, are carried out under US image guidance, the US probe, which is one of the primary tools needed for the procedure, is mounted on a holder, also called a stabilizer, that is used to manipulate, position, and lock the probe in place. Different types of US probe stabilizers and precision steppers have been proposed such as the stabilizer assembly mechanisms presented by Ellard and Knudsen [11], and a US probe stepper apparatus designed by Ellard [12]. Whitmore et al. also designed another form of US stepping device [13]. 

Unforfunafely, neither the available stabilizers nor the stepper apparatus can acquire this information, and, although some available steppers enable precise US probe motion and rotation [12-13], the probe s location is still unknown relative to a reference coordinafe sysfem. In addition, fhese devices are nof sturdy enough to firmly lock in place the ultrasound probe. Therefore, such devices are unsuifable for use in robot-assisted surgeries. Furthermore, the bulky structures of the available stabilizers increase the potential for robot-robof collisions and occupy a large space in fhe limited work space of the brachy-therapy procedures. These cumbersome and heavy devices take considerable time and effort to set up and they limit the clinician s access to the patient. 

One development in medical technology that shows great promise is telemedicine. Telemedicine is medical information that is shared and medical procedures that are performed from a distance. Telemedicine allows doctors to assist patients in more than one place. This is made possible by improvements in Internet connections and robotics. 

Recent advancement in cardiac catheter robot system includes introduction of robot systems for vascular procedures such as percutaneous coronaiy intervention (PCI). CorPath 200 system (Corindus Vascular Robotics, Inc., U.S.A.) is representative example. The robot system is to assist clinician in control of coronary guidewire and stent/balloon catheter in the PCI procedure. The first-in-human clinical study was performed in Colombia. Clinical success rate was 100% with final stenosis diameter of less than 30% after delivering stent to targeted lesion... 

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