A systems integration architecture for note surgery

Surgical methods and techniques continue to evolve. There is a transition of the surgical methods from open, conventional surgery, to more minimally invasive procedures. In current minimally invasive surgery methods such as laparoscopic surgery, surgical instruments are introduced through small incisions, reducing patient trauma and shortening the recovery time. To reduce the number of incisions, new techniques such as single port surgery or natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery has been proposed. The development of small robotic tools operable through a master-slave interface over a wireless protocol, has led to the concept of Robotics NOTES surgery, or R-NOTES. Such a conceived system requires a systems integration architecture that supports wireless protocols, serial interfaces, multidimensional human-computer interfaces, and intuitive applications for the end user (surgeons). Our research team has developed an integration architecture through the exploration of SysML and enterprise integration architecture patterns.