Standardization for safe surgical robotics



A recent article in the Int J Med Robotics Comput Assist Surg analyzed the current status of surgical robotics, and the future ways of development from safety and standardization point of view.
The paper "A research review on clinical needs, technical requirements, and normativity in the design of surgical robots" from Diaz et al. "explores the clinical needs and the technical requirements that will trace the roadmap for the next scientific and technological advances in the field of robotic surgery, the metrics that should be defined for safe technology development and the standards that are being elaborated for boosting the industry and facilitating systems integration."
Their key findings include: 
"Cost reduction, shorter time of intervention, reduced time and complexity for the setup, reduced OR footprint, enhanced data integration and improved decisionmaking have been identified as the main clinical needs that have to be met in order to achieve greater acceptance and market penetration of surgical robots. Taking into account these clinical needs, the main technical requirements that should be addressed in the near future, and that consequently, will trace the roadmap for the next scientific and technological advances in the field of robotic surgery are: reduced size, shape and weight of the equipment, increased number of DOFs, increased resolution, improved platform stability, force feedback feeling, suitable visualization and spatial orientation of the surgical field, enhanced wireless modules, triangulation capabilities, reduction of repetitive instrument exchange, flexibility of rigid instruments, enhanced manoeuvrability, suction and irrigation capabilities, improved ergonomics and unified training and credentialing requirements."

Areas of improvement for surgical robots in different clinical applications:
Source: Wiley's Int J Med Rob

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