Robot assistants in the operating room promise safer surgery

Advanced robotics can help surgeons carry out procedures where there is little margin for error. In a surgery in India, a robot scans a patient's knee to figure out how best to carry out a joint replacement. Meanwhile, in an operating room in the Netherlands, another robot is performing highly challenging microsurgery under the control of a doctor using joysticks. Such scenarios look set to become more common. At present, some manual operations are so difficult they can be performed by only a small number of surgeons worldwide, while others are invasive and depend on a surgeon's specific skill.