Exploration and establishment of magnetic surgery

In the 21st century, the application of magnetic devices in surgery has been increasingly reported. Among these innovative magnetic devices, many have shown great superiority and subversiveness. Now there is a trend that these innovative techniques may replace traditional techniques. Some advanced magnetic surgical techniques can vastly simplify existing surgical procedures, lower operation difficulty, shorten operation time and improve treatment effect. Others may even challenge the current treatment mode of some diseases. And the concept of magnetic surgery has been changed rapidly. Nevertheless, many common vital bottleneck problems remain unsolved in this new area. The fundamental research on the biologic effects of magnets is far from sufficient. The core problems of magnetic techniques still hang in doubt. The cooperation and integration among institutes of medicine, science and engineering are lacking. The research results remain in certain areas and are more theoretical with little practicability. The last but not the least, the scientific conception and clinical application standards of this novel technique are still vacant. Recently, Chinese researchers have made systemic researches in magnetic surgery and invented a series of international leading techniques. They have achieved remarkable achievements in theoretical innovation and discipline construction, which have occupied the leading place in the world. This article was aimed at discussing the establishment and development of the international discipline of magnetic surgery. In the meantime, this article summarized the developing situation and foundation of magnetic surgery while created expectations. In this article, the authors firstly divided developmental stages of magnetic surgery in a scientific manner. The authors proposed five major systems of magnetic surgery and suggested establishing the discipline of magnetic surgery with interdisciplinary integration. The authors made all efforts to lay a solid foundation of basic researches, set up a theoretical system, standardize clinical researches, and strengthened interdisciplinary integration of magnetic materials, biomechanics and clinical diagnosis and treatment. The authors devoted themselves to unit experts on rare earth metals, biomechanics and clinical medicine. With the integration of multi-institutes, the discipline of magnetic surgery will be soon established normatively. Novel techniques of magnetic surgery will be carried out in clinical application researches. In the near future, the fast development of magnetic surgery will be achieved and benefit human health.