Novel, Hand-Held, Agile Surgical Operating Systems

Over the past decade, there has been a surge in the development of mechanical and robotized laparoscopic instruments to improve the surgeon's dexterity, precision and ergonomics in a cost-effective manner, as an alternative to the expensive "master-slave" surgical robotic systems currently on the market. Due to the overhead costs, robotic minimally invasive procedures have nil advantage to patients or hospitals when compared to laparoscopic procedures when looking into the cost-effectiveness profile. In addition, to date robotic surgery has statistically not been proven to be superior to conventional laparoscopy for a majority of surgeries. Robotic surgery however continues to grow with increased demand from both patients and surgeons, despite high initial and recurrent costs. As competition expands those costs will inevitably decrease but investing in hand-held robotized laparoscopic devices enabling safe performance of advanced minimally invasive procedures at a much more sustainable cost can enable scaling this technology, especially as every laparoscopic surgeon can easily use those with rapid additional training only to achieve a specific surgical approach. Multiple reports including potential instruments providing those solutions required have been written, however, surprisingly not all of those featured instruments are available today. In this article we review the current status of smart tools for laparoscopic procedures, highlighting new market entries with a potential to change the landscape of minimally invasive surgery.