Robot-assisted surgery provides a sophisticated technological advance for some minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as prostatectomy. The robot translates movement of the surgeon’s hands into tiny movements of surgical instruments inside the patient. Due to the high degree of dexterity, greater precision and minimally invasive approach, faster recovery times and good clinical outcomes are frequently produced with robotic surgery. Like other general surgical procedures, robot-assisted cancer resections may benefit from intraoperative histology to guide the surgical approach. Endomicroscope prototypes have been developed to enable clinical evaluation, and Optiscan is supporting a trial by Dr Randy Fagin at the Hospital at Westlake Medical Center (Austin, Texas, USA), evaluating use of endomicroscopy for tissue identification during minimally invasive robot assisted prostate cancer surgery. Prostate cancer is the most common solid tumour in men, with 1 in 11 men at risk of developing prostate cancer in their lifetime. It is hoped improved tissue and nerve visualisation during surgery could lower the risk of post-operative erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. In keeping with World Health Organization guidelines, the trial has been registered with an appropriate clinical trial registry. Details can thus be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT00792961).
