Development of Neurosurgical Robotics and Future Perspectives

Abstract

  Robotic surgery, which has been introduced to the field of neurosurgery, has the potential to improve the safety, accuracy, and dexterity of surgery compared to conventional methods. Currently, accuracy-enhancing robotic systems for stereotactic and spinal neurosurgery are used. In particular, stereotactic depth electrode placement using a robotic system has shown clinical benefits over conventional frame-based placements. Several microsurgery systems for dexterity-enhancing systems are available. Our trials aimed to develop the following two systems : 1) a deep endonasal robotic system that supports endonasal procedures, including dural suturing at the anterior cranial base and complicated vascular procedures and 2) a super-microsurgery system that enables anastomosis of 0.3mm diameter vessels. Our systems showed a rapid learning curve for surgical beginners and enhanced the accuracy of left-hand procedures. In future, we aim to improve the user-friendly control and durability of these systems. At the same time, robotics engineering can enhance surgical science by digitalizing all dimensions of surgical procedures and introducing artificial intelligence for sensor- and image-guided automated surgical developments. In the near future, robotic surgery will be routinely applied in complex and daily surgical procedures to improve surgical outcomes without significant variance between occasions and surgical or hospital experiences.