Lithotripsy of Renal Stones With Avicenna Roboflex Robotic-Assisted Retrograde Intra-Renal Surgery (RA-RIRS)

Abstract

The role of retrograde intra-renal surgery (RIRS) with flexible ureterorenoscopy (FURS) in the management of kidney stone formation has garnered a prevalent use among urologists thanks to new improvements in medical equipment; however, it still remains a challenging technique. The purpose of this chapter is to overview robotic assistance for RIRS and mainly focus on ELMED's robotic device by thoroughly describing it and investigating its effects on surgical performance based on the IDEAL (idea, development, evaluation, assessment, long-term study) framework. The robotic device, Avicenna Roboflex, is a teleoperated robot consisting of a surgeon's console (master control console – MCC) and manipulator arm (MA) to house and couple with the FURS. It provides a suitable and safe platform for robotic-assisted (RA) RIRS with significant improvements in ergonomics and potentially prolongs equipment durability which may lead to its general acceptance and preference of use by many surgeons in various countries including Turkey, Germany, France, the UAE, and Romania.