ReviewNPJ microgravity2021
Robot-assisted surgery in space: pros and cons. A review from the surgeon's point of view.
Review in NPJ microgravity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Flexible robotic platforms for surgical applications in microgravity environments: a comprehensive systematic review of minimally invasive mechatronic systems and the impact of artificial intelligence on behalf of the Center for Space Systems (C-SET) & TROGSS-The Robotic Global Surgical Society.Journal of robotic surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Beyond multiport DaVinci®: a closer look at less commonly used robotic systems in resectional colorectal surgery.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Review
- Surgery for interplanetary space missions.The British journal of surgery · 2026Review
- Effect of microgravity on the feasibility and accuracy of dental procedures.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- SETY©: A next-generation robotic training platform for safe and autonomous surgery in space - surgical biomechatronics design and Hardware-Software integration within the SY-MIS project.Journal of robotic surgery · 2025Article
- Pharmaceutical and biomedical challenges for crew autonomy in health preservation during future exploration missions.Communications medicine · 2025Review
- Space surgery: a SAGES' white paper.Surgical endoscopy · 2024Article
- Emerging Technologies in Hand Orthopedic Surgery: Current Trends and Future Directions.Galen medical journal · 2024Article
- Surgery in the Next Space Missions.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Inducing Performance of Commercial Surgical Robots in Space.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Review
- Role of fibroblasts in wound healing and tissue remodeling on Earth and in space.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Review
- The Epidermis in Microgravity and Unloading Conditions and Their Effects on Wound Healing.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Review
- Anatomical Engineering and 3D Printing for Surgery and Medical Devices: International Review and Future Exponential Innovations.BioMed research international · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The target of human flight in space has changed from permanence on the International Space Station to missions beyond low earth orbit and the Lunar Gateway for deep space exploration and Missions to Mars. Several conditions affecting space missions had to be considered: for example the effect of weightlessness and radiations on the human body, behavioral health decrements or communication latency, and consumable resupply. Telemedicine and telerobotic applications, robot-assisted surgery with some hints on experimental surgical procedures carried out in previous missions, had to be considered as well. The need for greater crew autonomy in health issues is related to the increasing severity of medical and surgical interventions that could occur in these missions, and the presence of a highly trained surgeon on board would be recommended. A surgical robot could be a valuable aid but only inasfar as it is provided with multiple functions, including the capability to perform certain procedures autonomously. Space missions in deep space or on other planets present new challenges for crew health. Providing a multi-function surgical robot is the new frontier. Research in this field shall be paving the way for the development of new structured plans for human health in space, as well as providing new suggestions for clinical applications on Earth.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.