The new train is not coming. It is already here.
In 2014, I trained in robotic surgery.
I performed several procedures.
But at the time, I couldn’t see a clear benefit over fully endoscopic/thoracoscopic surgery.
So I stepped away from the robot.
For more than a decade, I focused entirely on endoscopic surgery.
More than 1,000 procedures.
Refining techniques. Pushing boundaries. Training others.
Until the end of 2024.
I made a deliberate decision to return to robotic surgery.
Not because endoscopic surgery had reached its limits.
But because robotic technology had evolved.
Two weeks ago, we performed our first robotic lobectomy in Maastricht on the Da Vinci Generation 5 platform — the latest generation.
And this time, I saw something fundamentally different.
Not just a robot.
A platform.
But why is robotic surgery the future?
EXPOSURE
In surgery, exposure is everything. If you can’t see it, you can’t do it. The robotic platform provides immersive visualization of the operative field and surgical planes, with ten-fold magnification and intuitive control, offering unmatched freedom of movement to optimize exposure under the surgeon’s direct command.
COPILOTS
A surgical procedure is a complex interplay of many factors, including the choreographed dance of surgeons and assistants. The robotic platform provides multiple “copilots”: the fourth arm and camera arm extending the surgeon’s capabilities, the table surgeon, and, in dual-console settings, a second console surgeon who can assist or be trained.
INTEGRATION OF A TSUNAMI OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Robotics is the natural integrator of a tsunami of technologies that enhance precision and safety: mixed-reality integration of patient-specific 3D reconstructions, AI-driven tissue recognition, AI-assisted image analysis, and ultimately, telerobotics.
ERGONOMICS
Nothing compares to sitting at the console, with the ability to pause at any moment, reflect, discuss, and engage with your team without losing precision or control.
In parallel, in 2025, we started developing a fully multimodal simulation platform for robotic cardiac surgery, in anticipation of MDR approval for intracardiac robotic procedures.
Let me be clear:
Robotic surgery will not replace endoscopic surgery.
It will coexist with it.
Each serving the patient where it adds the most value.
But one thing is certain:
This train is moving fast.
And the greatest risk is not stepping on the wrong train.
It is standing still on the platform.
#RoboticSurgery
#CardiothoracicSurgery
#SurgicalInnovation