TYPES OF ROBOTIC SURGERY
Supervisory-controlled
The procedure is executed solely by the robot. Before the surgery, the surgeon programs the robot with the surgical procedure. But during the surgery itself, he does not operate on the patient himself; he only oversees or supervises the robot as it works.
Telesurgical a.k.a remote surgery
The surgeon manipulates the robotic arms during the surgery rather than programming the robot such that it can function on its own during the surgery. The robot is technically the one performing the surgery, instead of the surgeon. (The da Vinci surgical system, which is currently the leading device in the field of robotic surgery, belongs in this section of robotic surgery.) (Au, et al., 2005)
Shared-control
The surgeon is the most involved in this category. The surgeon himself carries out the procedure using the surgical instruments, but with the help of a robot that monitors his performance and helps by offering stability and support. If the surgeon’s hands go too near the “forbidden regions”, the robot pushes back against the surgeon’s hands (Bonsor & Strickland, How Robotic Surgery Will Work, 2008). The surgeon and the robot jointly perform the surgery.