The future of MIS is not laparoscopy

Surgery is aimed at two major categories of disease: Cellular diseases (such as cancer and infection) and Structural / mechanical diseases (such as fractures, hernias, malformations and trauma).

The second category will probably be treated mechanically (with a growing share of robots) for the foreseeable future, however the first category is undergoing a paradigm shift.

Early detection of pre-malignant, and early-malignant tumors, together with efficient biological agents that will target tumors and shrink and downstage them, will increase the percentage of patients who will enjoy less invasive procedures gradually, until these will replace most surgical procedure to treat cancer.

Cancer can and will be treated by two major routes - natural tubes (GI tract, GU tract, reproductive system, Respiratory tree, and vascular structures) with minimally invasive interventions that will be performed through them ,either by removing diseased tissues or destroying them in-situ.

Tumors in solid organs, such as liver, pancreas, kidneys, lungs and brain, will be ablated using application of direct energy, such as radiofrequency, irreversible electroporation, focused ultrasound and cryo-ablation. The missing components to increase these therapeutic technologies exponentially are a real-time system that will ascertain the complete destruction of all diseased tissues with a safety margin, and technologies to replace whole tissues biopsy.

The presentation will discuss existing technologies and near-future trends that will pave the path to the surgery of the minimally invasive surgery of the future.