Image Guidance for Robotic Surgery and Advances in Medical Imaging

Teleoperated Surgery is changing the way that surgery is performed in many disciplines.  In addition to the advantages of robotics in the surgery, the robotic platform allows integration of pre-surgical imaging and interaoperative imaging.  This presentation will look at the history and uses of robotic surgery as well as advances in surgical imaging. This includes new uses of ultrasound during surgery and projects that involve the integration of MRI into robotic prostate surgery.

Advances in imaging are helping the advances in robotic surgery. We look at the basics of different types of medical imaging, focusing on the intraoperative imaging of ultrasound and MRI.  In addition to the normal use of the these imaging types, new uses such as elastography can be used to look at tissue characteristics above and beyond what can be seen through traditional methods.  Elastography, or the ability to image tissue stiffness enables surgeons to locate tumours that are not visible in B-mode ultrasound, such as in prostate.  Elastography has been used in breast examinations, as well as in both liver and kidney to monitor and diagnose the levels of fibrosis.