Russell Taylor
"Medical Robotics and Computer-Integrated Interventional Medicine: Coupling Information to Action in 2'st Century Operating Rooms"

The impact of Computer-Integrated Surgery (CIIM) on medicine in the next 20 years will be as great as that of Computer-Integrated Manufacturing on industrial production over the past 20 years. A novel partnership between human surgeons and machines, made possible by advances in computing and engineering technology, will overcome many of the limitations of traditional surgery and other interventional procedures. By extending human surgeons' ability to plan and carry out surgical interventions more accurately and less invasively, CIIM systems will address a vital national need to greatly reduce costs, improve clinical outcomes, and improve the efficiency of health care delivery. As CIIM systems evolve, we expect to see the emergence of two dominant and complementary paradigms: Interventional cad/cam systems will integrate accurate patient-specific models, interventional plan optimization, and a variety of execution environments permitting the plans to be carried out accurately, safely, and with minimal invasiveness. Interventional Assistant systems will work cooperatively with human surgeons in carrying out precise and minimally invasive procedures. This presentation will use current research at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere to illustrate these themes and will outline current barriers and opportunities for future developments.