Disruptive visions: a robot is not a machine...systems integration for surgeons.

The discipline of surgery has become even more complex with the rapid introduction of revolutionary technologies. Laparoscopic surgery is just the simplest and first of these new directions. Robotic surgery and image-guided therapy are the next generation. As biosurgery and other modalities are introduced, the complexity will increase exponentially. In order to understand and utilize the new technologies, surgeons need to be grounded in the science of systems integration. The pervasive influence of this new requirement, as well as the skills, education, training, and assessment needs, are defined.