Sekhon Inderjit Singh HK, Armstrong ER, Shah S, Mirnezami R. Application of robotic technologies in lower gastrointestinal tract endoscopy: A systematic review. World J Gastrointest Endosc 2021; 13(12): 673-697 [PMID: 35070028 DOI: 10.4253/wjge.v13.i12.673]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Reza Mirnezami, FRCS, MBBS, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Surgeon, Colorectal Surgery, The Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, Hampstead, United Kingdom. reza.mirnezami@nhs.net
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Systematic Reviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Harpreet Kaur Sekhon Inderjit Singh, Emily Rose Armstrong, Sujay Shah, Reza Mirnezami, Colorectal Surgery, The Royal Free Hospital, London NW3 2QG, Hampstead, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Sekhon Inderjit Singh HK contributed to data collection, analysis and write-up; Armstrong ER contributed to data collection and analysis; Shah S contributed to write-up; Mirnezami R contributed to the conceptualisation of the article, overview of the project and write up.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflict of interests to declare.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Reza Mirnezami, FRCS, MBBS, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Surgeon, Colorectal Surgery, The Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, Hampstead, United Kingdom. reza.mirnezami@nhs.net
Received: March 18, 2021 Peer-review started: March 18, 2021 First decision: July 17, 2021 Revised: July 31, 2021 Accepted: December 2, 2021 Article in press: December 2, 2021 Published online: December 16, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Inherent limitations exist with conventional colonoscopy which may be overcome by a variety of next-generation robotically-augmented technologies.
Research motivation
Robotic technologies have the potential to transform lower gastrointestinal (LGI) tract endoscopy with long term, benefits for patients, endoscopists and the wider healthcare industry. High quality evidence is currently lacking in this field.
Research objectives
This review provides a comprehensive summary of recent developments in the application of robotics in LGI tract endoscopy.
Research methods
A systematic review of the literature was performed. Studies reporting on the use of robotic endoscopic technology in ex vivo colon models or in vivo animal and human experiments were included.
Research results
Of 37 studies were included of varying actuation modality. Five devices have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, however the majority remain in the early phases of testing and development. Level 1 evidence is lacking at present, but early reports suggest that these technologies may be associated with improved pain and safety.
Research conclusions
Significant progress in robotic colonoscopy has been made over the last couple of decades. The reviewed devices appear to be ergonomically capable and efficient though to date no reports have convincingly shown diagnostic or therapeutic superiority over conventional colonoscopy.
Research perspectives
Future improvements in design together with the integration of semi-autonomous and autonomous systems over the next decade will potentially result in robotic colonoscopy becoming more commonplace.
