History and development of robotic cardiac surgery

The current status of technological innovation in cardiac surgery is tremendous, particularly for minimally invasive computer-enhanced or robotic cardiac surgery. This review examines the history and development of robotic technology and key ancillary technologies (thoracoscopic internal thoracic artery takedown and peripheral access cardiopulmonary bypass) as they have been applied and have enabled robotic cardiac surgery over the last 2 decades. Although trade-offs exist for both patients and surgeons as this evolving technology is applied to clinical practice, tremendous progress has been made in these technologies, and robotic cardiac surgery will undoubtedly have a substantial role in the surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease in the 21st century.