Video-assisted thoracoscopy for lung cancer: who is the future of thoracic surgery?

Video-assisted thoracoscopy for lung cancer: who is the future of thoracic surgery? J Thorac Dis. 2020 Aug;12(8):4427-4433 Authors: Jiang Y, Su Z, Liang H, Liu J, Liang W, He J Abstract As the computer processing technique and display technology evolved dramatically, the surgical approach to early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has made a rapid progress within the past few years. Currently, the gold standard for NSCLC is lobectomy. After the introduction of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), lung resection can now be conducted mini-invasively, enabling better prognosis for patients and better operation condition for surgeons. At the very beginning, the conventional two-dimensional (2D) system enabled operators to have a closer, magnified and illuminated view inside the body cavity than open thoracotomy. With the introduction of the glasses-assisted three-dimensional (3D) and glasses-free 3D display system, multiple viewing angles were further enhanced, thus a more stable, easier to master and less invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) appeared. However, given that the standard VATS is associated with limited maneuverability and stereoscopy, it restricts the availability in more advanced cases. Hopefully, most of the limitations of standard VATS can be overcome with the robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS). The RATS system consists of a remote console and a robotic unit with 3 or 4 arms that can ...
Source: Journal of Thoracic Disease - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: J Thorac Dis Source Type: research