Technologies now emerging will have tremendous effects on surgeons and surgical practice. This volume looks ahead 10 to 20 years to predict and illustrate these trends in detail. The book opens with an overview of disruptive technologies, and their economic, scientific, ethical and social implications. Next comes a section on the dramatic effects of online technology in surgical education: the many ways that the Internet, virtual reality and simulation technology will change training and education. A section on Robotics covers computer-guided surgery, robotics and endoluminal therapies. Innovations in the design and use of surgical instruments, including MEMS and Nanotechnology are outlined, along with new techniques for hemostatic dissection. Focusing on Bioengineering, the book reviews tissue engineering and artificial organs, genetic engineering, stem cells and delivery systems, emerging transplantation technologies and the brain-machine interface. A concluding section, entitled Beyond the Future, discusses ways of adapting to future technologies.

Overview of Emerging Technologies

Economics of New Surgical Technologies
The Scientific, Social, and Ethical Implications of Disruptive Technologies
Education and Training
The World Virtual University and the Internet: Virtual Reality: Objective Assessment, Education, and Training
Organizing Surgical Simulation Centers in Response to Disruptive Technologies
Ideal VR systems: Is There a "Holy Grail" in Simulation System Land?
The Medical Informatics Challenge in Surgery
Robotics and Novel Surgical Approaches
Robotics in General Surgery: Today and Tomorrow
Evolving Endoluminal Therapies
Innovations in Surgical Instruments
Microtechnology in Surgical Devices
Innovative Instruments in Endoscopic Surgery
New Hemostatic Dissecting Forceps with a Metal Membrane Heating Element
Radiofrequency and Hepatic Tumors
Technological Innovations in Kidney and Liver Living-Donor-Related Transplantation
Bioengineering
Tissue Engineering
Beyond the Future
Adapting to Future Technologies.