What Is Next in Robotic Urology?

The application of robotic technology in surgical practice was developed during the past three decades, but its clinical application has made a significant impact during the last 10 years. Urologists have embraced surgical robots throughout their evolution, and robot-assisted urologic surgeries have matured into everyday clinical practice in many parts of the world. Long-term data from robot-assisted radical prostatectomies (RARP), an early robotic urologic surgery, has shown that the results are comparable to contemporary open radical prostatectomy (ORP) cohorts. Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) is largely restricted to high-volume academic centers; comparative studies have demonstrated significant advantages in favor of RAPN over laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) to achieve adequate warm ischemia time, surgical margins free of cancer cells, and no peri-operative complications. Robot-assisted radical cystectomy shows results that are comparable to contemporary open radical cystectomy. Several authors have reported the feasibility of robotic intracorporeal urinary diversion. The available long-term outcomes of robot-assisted urological surgeries are comparable to conventional open surgical methods and are associated with fewer complications. Surgical robots continue to evolve, and robotic engineers alongside surgeons strive hard to synthesize and evaluate novel robotic platforms, downsize hardware, and develop flexible instruments and newer technologies. Robotic applications available at this point represent the infancy of this technology. Future developments in robotics are profoundly limited to human imagination and can potentially scale to unimaginable heights. We would expect robots coupled with imaging and energies, aiming to provide accurate and reliable treatments which will be finely targeted by biogenetic information.