Robotic innovations (instruments and new robots)

Robotic surgery is an emerging technique in rapid evolution and diffusion, developed with the aim of making surgery less invasive and more comfortable for both patients and surgeons. In the beginning, several different kinds of robots were developed, but their costs were too high, which in turn amplified difficulties in spreading the technique. In addition, the tendency to choose minimally invasive thoracic surgery relies heavily on the reduction of the number and size of incisions (up to a single-port surgery), and the use of more sophisticated devices, aiming at improving the haptic feedback, which is currently lost in robotic systems. However, during the last two decades, the benefits of robotic surgery have been recognized, spurring competition between various medical companies to reduce costs, resulting in a ‘democratization’ of robotic surgery.