This month’s issue of AAMS features various aspects of technology in Biomedical Engineering in the treatment of diseases and restoration of new organs. This article aims to highlight the burden of end-stage organ failure caused by their increasing prevalence, and cost of treatment. Currently, transplantation is the standard treatment...

The daVinci robotic surgical platform (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) is the only FDA-approved robotic surgical system for use in humans. The daVinci first made its debut in 1999 when it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for surgical prostatectomy and cardiothoracic applications. The growth of...

Hysterectomy is the most common major gynaecologic operation. Over 600,000 hysterectomies are performed annually in the US. In Singapore, almost 9000 hysterectomies are performed annually. Traditionally, gynaecologic surgeons approached the pelvis through a laparotomy incision. Since its introduction some 20 years ago, laparoscopy has become the preferred option compared...

Bone is the second most common transplantation tissue after blood. Globally, at least 2.2 million of bone grafting procedures are performed annually and approximately 500,000 of such procedures are done in the United States (US) alone. Figure 1 shows the orthopaedic industry by market segmentation in the US. It...

Minimally invasive surgery has been widely accepted clinically and developed rapidly in the past decades. It has become the method of choice in many surgical procedures, such as laparoscopic reflux surgery, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, etc. The benefits to patients include less trauma, decreased morbidity, shorter hospital stay as well as...