Robot-Assisted Endoscopic Resection: Current Status and Future Directions

Therapeutic endoscopic resection has gained favor for its ability to achieve high en bloc and histologically complete resection rates via a minimally invasive approach. The main technical difficulties faced by interventionists are first the lack of traction causing suboptimal visualization of the dissection field and second, the lack of triangulation using existing therapeutic apparatuses. These challenges can be overcome with the use of robots and the multiple degrees of freedom afforded by the robotic wrists. Nevertheless, complications such as bleeding and perforation can occur. It is hence beneficial for the robotic device to be equipped with additional abilities such as suturing. Once the robotic prototypes have been fully optimized and marketed, a structured program should be instituted to ensure proper and adequate training of the end-users. The future of robotics should then explore the possibility of developing a soft robot or a robot with more natural human-like movements. A robot with a force feedback mechanism would be superior and improve safety. Eventually, a supervised autonomous robot may perform interventions with greater precision and accuracy than an expert procedurist. This review describes the benefits of robot-assisted endoscopic resections, recent developments aimed at managing iatrogenic complications and future directions for robotic endoscopy. (Gut Liver 2020;14:150-152)