Conclusions and outlook

The field of medical robotics is now over 30 years old and has reached a form of maturity. Robotic systems are in routine clinical use in virtually all medical fields involving surgical-type procedures. Their success is notable in the historical fields of orthopedic surgery, where they have made complex bone cuts possible, neurosurgery and radiotherapy, where they ensure unrivalled treatment precision under difficult conditions (large angulations, during patient movements), and laparoscopic surgery, where the dexterity of robotic instruments enhances treatments. More recently, robots have also penetrated new specialties (non-vascular interventional radiology, bronchoscopy, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, ENT surgery).

Despite this, the number of commercial products is still limited. A few robots (Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci, Accuray's Cyberknife, Stryker's Mako,...