Taking into account medical decisions and interfacing with physicians

One of the fundamental differences between industrial robotics and medical robotics lies in the definition of the task to be performed. In industrial robotics, the task is generally predefined in terms of trajectory and path. The path to be taken can therefore be demonstrated to the robot manually or defined on the basis of CAD, and the trajectory can then be optimized.

In the medical field, the task is specific to the patient to be treated, and generally only needs to be performed once. What's more, it only makes sense when expressed in the patient's own frame of reference. It is therefore not possible to demonstrate the trajectory a priori. The trajectory to be performed is generally defined by the doctor in charge of the treatment on the basis of the patient's medical images.

In medical robotics, there are two main families of techniques...