Internet page

Citation

Rigelsford, J. (2001), "Internet page", Industrial Robot, Vol. 28 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2001.04928eag.001

Internet page

http://www.oyston.com/anaes/utopia.htmAnesthesia Information Systems

Keywords: Internet, Automation, Robots

This is a simple but informative site that describes a Utopian operating room of 2010 from an anaesthesiologists point of view. It discusses how anesthesiologist's must take a leading role in the development and implementation of new technology to ensure it is user friendly and provides the features that they require. It goes on to describe how small, inexpensive, powerful computers, wireless technology, and the Internet can be amalgamated to ensure better patient monitoring, easier, more accurate record keeping and improved patient care through the use of expert systems.

http://www.robodoc.com/Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc.

Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. provides computer-controlled, image-directed robotic products for surgical applications.

This is a very professional site which unfortunately contains little product information.

http://webmd.lycos.com/content/article/1728.67797Computerised surgery suites will result in better patient care

This article, written by Jane Schwanke of WebMD Medical News, presents another view of the operating room of 2010. It focuses on the belief that the less invasive the surgical procedure, the more positive the outcome will be for the patient, and describes how robotics can be utilised to achieve this goal.

This is a very interesting article which incorporates the views of many surgeons from Europe and the USA.

http://www.spie.org/web/oer/september/sep00/roboticsop.htmlRobotics transforming the operating room

A well-written article describing how computer and robot technology are about to revolutionise the operating room.

http://www.imt.mu-luebeck.de/OP2010/Op2010.htmOP 2010Create the operating room of the future

Operation Theatre 2010 is a scientific project started in 1997 at the Medical University of Luebeck together with the Fachhochschule Luebeck and local industry. This multidisciplinarily project aims to create an operating room of the future. The project aims to optimise working methods in the operating theatre by using adequate medical technique and computer science. It considers both equipment and work flow management in providing a concept of an operation room of the future.

This is a good Web page but contains few links to other sites.

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1511/4_21/60270448/p1/article.jhtmlShrinking the surgeon

This site contains an article written by Gurney Williams which discusses how tiny high-tech tools will be used by physicians of the future to travel inside the body with dexterity and precision. It discusses how the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Hershey Medical Centre at Penn State University is one of a handful of doctors using computer assistance and robotic tools in an attempt to revolutionise heart surgery. The site also contains links to other related articles.

Hot sites

http://www.computermotion.com/ourcompany.htmlComputer motion

Computer Motion was founded in 1989, employs over 150 people at its corporate headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, and offices throughout the USA and Europe. Computer Motion is pioneering the operating room of the future "the Intelligent ORtm" with its expertise in medical computers and robotics. The company develops, manufactures and markets proprietary computer and robotic surgical systems for the operating room which enhance surgeons' capabilities, improve outcomes and reduce costs. They emerged as the leader in medical robotics with the introduction of AESOP1. This enabling technology brought together man and intelligent machine to create new operating room solutions. In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), an endoscope and long, narrow instruments are passed into the patient's body through small incisions. The surgeon performs the procedure while viewing the operation on a video monitor. MIS provides the benefits of reduced patient pain and trauma, faster recovery times and lower healthcare costs. AESOP imitates the form and function of a human arm and eliminates the need for a member of the surgical staff to control the camera manually.

With precise and consistent scope movements, AESOP provides the surgeon with direct control of a steady operative field of view. Computer Motion's products include: the AESOP 3000, a voice-controlled endoscope positioning robot, the HERMEStm Control Center, a centralized system designed to voice control a series of networked "smart" medical devices, and the ZEUStm Robotic Surgical System for new, minimallyinvasive, microsurgery procedures such as endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting (E-CABGtm).

This is a very good site which contains plenty of product information and links to other sites of interest.

http://www.spl.harvard.edu:8000/pages/papers/horizon/horizon.htmlimage-guided procedures and the operating room of the future

This Web site contains a paper written by Ferenc A. Jolesz MD, Professor of Radiology from the Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. It discusses how rapid progress in imaging techniques and advances in computer technology during the past decade has had a strong influence on radiology and related clinical fields. Development of new interventional radiologic methods, increased use of computerised image-guided procedures in operating theatres, and utilisation of advanced imaging techniques for intraoperative guidance all contribute to the increasing presence of image-based information in the treatment process. The most compelling reason to adopt intraoperative image guidance is to reduce surgical morbidity. The paper discusses computer-based image guidance; image-based modelling; surgical planning and simulation; intraoperative imaging and image guidance; interventional and intraoperative MRI; and the operating room of the future.

Overall, this is well written paper that contains plenty of good illustrations.

John Rigelsford