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INTRODUCTION

The implementation of robotic surgical systems has reduced the invasive nature of certain cardiac surgical procedures over the recent decades. In the early days, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and mitral valve repair (MVR) were mostly performed through a conventional sternotomy approach. Over time, however, minimally invasive techniques, including endoscopic methods, have become routine, particularly for MVR and MIDCAB procedures. The introduction of robotic surgical systems in the 1990s further advanced these techniques, offering valuable opportunities for continued innovation. This evolution is also closely linked with Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERACS) and other related concepts that have become integral to modern cardiac surgery. However, technical, logistic and cost-related issues, related to the robotic platform, have hampered and slowed down the widespread adoption of the robotic CABG procedure [1].

INNOVATION: A JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION

Innovations and especially technical ones do not emerge gradually and constantly but come in waves. In the beginning, innovations are almost always cumbersome, unreliable, expensive and without any convenient infrastructure, e.g. printing press, electricity, railroads, cars, computers. The dissemination of innovations is therefore costly, slow, risky and entails drastic changes in behaviour [2]. After many decades, the introduction of an innovation may look perfectly smooth and easy. However, every innovation must fight against existing interests, established knowledge and those who staunchly defend both. Fear and mistrust of everything new and different are endemic.

Subject
Education (General Interest) Coronary Disease (Acquired Cardiac) Experimental (Acquired Cardiac) Minimally Invasive Procedures (Acquired Cardiac) Valve Disorders (Acquired Cardiac)
Issue Section:
Editorial
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