Uses
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is still part of the frontier for robotic-assisted surgeries. However, there are a couple of robotic systems that are capable of successfully performing surgeries.
PRECEYES Surgical System is being used for vitreoretinal surgeries in other words. This is a single arm robot, that is tele manipulated by a surgeon. This system attaches to the head of the operating room table and provides surgeons with increased precision, with the help of the intuitive motion controller but Preceyes is the only robotic instrument to be CE certified. Some other companies like Forsight Robotics, Acusurgical that raised 5.75 M€ (France), and Horizon (US) are working in this field.
The da Vinci Surgical System, though not specifically designed for ophthalmic procedures, uses telemanipulation to perform pterygium repairs and ex-vivo corneal surgeries.
Heart
Also Some examples of heart surgery being assisted by robotic surgery systems include:
Atrial septal defect repair[45] – the repair of a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart,
Mitral valve repair[46] – the repair of the valve that prevents blood from regurgitating back into the upper heart chambers during contractions of the heart,
Coronary artery bypass[47] – rerouting of blood supply by bypassing blocked arteries that provide blood to the heart.
Thoracic
Additionally Robotic surgery has become more widespread in thoracic surgery for mediastinal pathologies, pulmonary pathologies and more recently complex esophageal surgery.[48]
Because The da Vinci Xi system is used for lung and mediastinal mass resection certainly This minimally invasive approach as a comparable alternative to video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and the standard open thoracic surgery. Although VATS is the less expensive option, the robotic-assisted approach offers benefits such as 3D visualizations with seven degrees of freedom and improved dexterity while having equivalent perioperative outcomes.[49]
ENT
The first successful robot-assisted cochlear implantation in a person took place in Bern, Switzerland in 2017.[50] because Surgical robots have been developed for use at various stages of cochlear implantation, including drilling through the mastoid bone, accessing the inner ear and inserting the electrode into the cochlea.[51]
Above all Advantages of robot-assisted cochlear implantation include improved accuracy,[52] resulting in fewer mistakes during electrode insertion and better hearing outcomes for patients. In addition, The surgeon uses image-guided surgical planning to program the robot based on the patient’s individual anatomy. but This helps the implant team to predict where the contacts of the electrode array will be located within the cochlea, which can assist with audio processor fitting post-surgery.[54] The surgical robots also allow surgeons to reach the inner ear in a minimally invasive way.[53]
Basically Challenges that still need to be addressed include safety, time, efficiency and cost.[53]
In conclusion Surgical robots have also been shown to be useful for electrode insertion with pediatric patients.[55]