When Robots met Surgeons...

Next generation surgery will integrate systems and techniques so that a machine is able to recognise, process, predict and ultimately execute a task, either under supervision or unsupervised from human control. Such functionality will be made possible through synergies and technological advancements in robotics, medical imaging and artificial intelligence. This talk will present and discuss the latest advancements in interventional imaging and machine learning techniques, developed to "teach" robotic systems how to autonomously perform surgical tasks in a similar way to an expert surgeon.

Modern day surgery has changed dramatically since the days of the ‘barber surgeons’. The old techniques of large incisions, litres of blood loss and rudimentary prosthetics have been replaced by highly engineered stents and software to help plan and guide care. In this talk, the evolution of complex aortic aneurysm repair will be explored: from small metal scaffolds inserted in arteries and assembled under x-ray vision, to virtual reality software that helps guide a surgeons’ placement of devices, a modern vascular surgeon needs to be open to exploring a variety of novel ways to fix aneurysms.