Home > Encyclopedia of Surgery > Telesurgery

Definition

Telesurgery, also called remote surgery, is performed by a surgeon at a site removed from the patient. Surgical tasks are directly performed by a robotic system controlled by the surgeon at the remote site. The word "telesurgery" is derived from the Greek words tele, meaning "far off," and cheirourgia, meaning "working by hand."

Description

In the early 2000s, several projects investigating the possibility and practicality of telesurgery were successful in performing complete surgical procedures on human patients from remote locations.

Preceding technologies

Telesurgery became a possibility with the advent of laparoscopic surgery in the late 1980s.