Robot-assisted surgical systems: a new era in laparoscopic surgery.

The introduction of laparoscopic surgery offers clear advantages to patients; to surgeons, it presents the challenge of learning new remote operating techniques quite different from traditional operating. Telemanipulation, introduced in the late 1990s, was a major advance in overcoming the reduced dexterity introduced by laparoscopic techniques. This paper reviews the development of robotic systems in surgery and their role in the operating room of the future.