Emerging technologies for surgery in the 21st century.

Laparoscopic surgery is a transition technology that marked the beginning of the information age revolution for surgery. Telepresence surgery, robotics, tele-education, and telementoring are the next step in the revolution. Using computer-aided systems such as robotics and image-guided surgery, the next generation of surgical systems will be more sophisticated and will permit surgeons to perform surgical procedures beyond the current limitations of human performance, especially at the microscale or on moving organs. More fundamentally, there will be an increased reliance on 3-dimensional images of the patient, gathered by computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, or other scanning techniques, to integrate the entire spectrum of surgical care from diagnosis to preoperative planning to intraoperative navigation to education through simulation. By working through the computer-generated image, first with preoperative planning and then during telepresence or image-guided procedures, new approaches to surgery will be discovered. These technologies are complemented by new educational opportunities, such as tele-education, surgical simulation, and a Web-based curriculum. Telementoring will permit further extension of the educational process directly into the operating room.