Robots in the Surgical Sphere

Surgical robots, which were rare only 20 years ago, are increasingly present in hospitals despite their high cost. Not only do they make ultra-precise surgeries possible, they also offer greater comfort to surgeons. Marie-Aude Vitrani is an associate professor in robotics, a researcher at ISIR (the University's robotics lab), the co-director of the Institut universitaire d'ingénierie en santé , and is involved in the development of these new surgical assistants. Here, Vitrani explains their advantages, limitations and the impact they can have on medical teams. How did robotics enter the surgical sphere? Marie-Aude Vitrani: The first surgical robots appeared in the 1980s and came from the industrial sector. These articulated arms coupled with a navigation system, which are safe for operating theatres, are used to precisely position instruments in neurosurgery. Then in the 1990s, they were used in orthopedic surgery, which has the advantage of being performed on a rigid, non-deformable material: bone.