  PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in urology has gained
immense popularity with the daVinci system, but a lot of research teams are
working on new robots. The purpose of this study is to review current urologic
robots and present future development directions. RECENT FINDINGS: Future
systems are expected to advance in two directions: improvements of remote
manipulation robots and developments of image-guided robots. SUMMARY: The final
goal of robots is to allow safer and more homogeneous outcomes with less
variability of surgeon performance, as well as new tools to perform tasks on
the basis of medical transcutaneous imaging, in a less invasive way, at lower
costs. It is expected that improvements for a remote system could be augmented
in reality, with haptic feedback, size reduction, and development of new tools
for natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery. The paradigm of
image-guided robots is close to clinical availability and the most advanced
robots are presented with end-user technical assessments. It is also notable
that the potential of robots lies much further ahead than the accomplishments
of the daVinci system. The integration of imaging with robotics holds a
substantial promise, because this can accomplish tasks otherwise impossible.
Image-guided robots have the potential to offer a paradigm shift.
