New Technologies Supporting Surgical Intervenltions and Training of Surgical Skills - A Look at Projects in Europe Supporting Minimally Invasive Techniques

With the introduction of new technology for surgical and interventional procedures, more complex operations can be performed. The goals are to increase the accuracy and safety of interventions and to reduce their invasiveness and discomfort to patients. If properly engineered, technology can reduce human limitations in dexterity and stability, while still leaving clinical decisions and high-level control to the medical doctor. The technology supporting surgery can be roughly divided into 1) technology for the improvement of manipulation, directly performed by the surgeon himself focusing on minimally invasive procedures, including teleoperated surgical robots, surgical assistants, and other augmented devices and 2) technology that enhances precision, focusing on preoperative planning, image guidance, and including autonomous robots. The developed instrumentation should be used by surgeons/interventionists. They have to implement the new method and the new instrumentation in their clinical practice. To limit training on patients, alternative solutions for training surgical skills are searched for. This article will end with a discussion on problems with the development of instruments to be used in the clinic and the clinically driven approach that may support this process.