Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2025, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (21): 4612-4620.doi: 10.12307/2025.828

Previous Articles    

Research and development trends and hot spots of spinal surgical robots for treatment of spinal diseases

Niu Yanyan1, Zhang Qi2, Fan Mingxing2   

  1. 1Medical Journal Center, 2Department of Spine Surgery, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100035, China
  • Received:2024-08-21 Accepted:2024-08-31 Online:2025-07-28 Published:2024-12-07
  • Contact: Fan Mingxing, MD, Associate chief physician, Department of Spine Surgery, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100035, China
  • About author:Niu Yanyan, Assistant researcher, Medical Journal Center, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100035, China
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82302353 (to FMX)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In recent years, the application of surgical robots has become a research hotspot in the field of spinal surgery, but there is still a lack of literature visualization analysis of spinal surgical robots in China.
OBJECTIVE: To conduct literature visualization analysis on the research hotspots of spinal surgical robots for the treatment of spinal diseases to provide a useful reference for the research and development of spinal surgical robots in China. 
METHODS: The Web of Science core set database was applied to search for relevant literature on spinal surgical robots for the treatment of spinal diseases, and 900 articles were finally included. Visualization analysis was conducted on number of publications, journals, institutions, countries, keywords, co-cited documents and highly cited documents of the included literature using VOSviewer 1.6.19 software. 
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The literature in the field of spinal surgical robots for the treatment of spinal diseases has been increasing year by year, especially in 2023, when the number of publications reached a peak. United States, China, and Germany are the research hotspots in this field. National Natural Science Foundation of China is the main fund in this field. (2) Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, China and Hospital for Special Surgery in United States have made great publications to the research in this field. (3) World Neurosurgery, Spine, and Operative Neurosurgery are the main publication journals in this field. (4) Keyword analysis showed that the research mainly focused on the accuracy of robot-assisted spinal surgery, minimally invasive surgery, robotic spinal surgery, and navigation technology. (5) The results of the co-citation analysis of the literature exhibit that robot-assisted technology has significant advantages in spinal surgery. Compared with traditional surgery, spinal surgical robots such as ROSA® Spine, ExcelsiusGPS, Mazor X, and TiRobot have the advantages of high-precision navigation, precise pedicle screw placement, and real-time feedback. They reduce X-ray radiation exposure during surgery, diminish the risk of complications for patients, and improve the success rate of surgery, showing their application prospects in the field of spinal surgery. (6) Despite this, the application and accuracy of related technologies still need to accumulate experience for improvement. Robotic surgery technology has shown cost-effectiveness in reducing surgical radiation exposure and enhancing surgical accuracy. However, it is needed to explore its accuracy in pedicle screw placement surgery, the impact of surgical time, and economic benefits. (7) The results of the analysis of highly cited literature from 2021 to 2024 further show that the latest research hotspots in this field are currently focused on the application of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, the improvement of the accuracy of robot-assisted pedicle screw placement, and the application of navigation robot spinal surgery platforms. For example, innovative technologies such as organic electrochemical neurons provide new integrated solutions for brain-computer interfaces, prosthetics, and intelligent soft robotics. Simultaneously, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies have shown broad application prospects in areas such as spinal deformity correction.

中国组织工程研究杂志出版内容重点:人工关节;骨植入物;脊柱骨折;内固定;数字化骨科;组织工程

Key words: ">spine, spinal surgical robot, robot-assisted technology, spinal surgery, pedicle screw, accuracy, navigation, complication, spinal deformity ,

CLC Number: