Paper Title: From robotic arms to AI-assisted: the evolution and interdisciplinary integration of robotic surgery technology based on bibliometron
Authors: Yuchi Liu, Mohd Wira Mohd Shafiei
Corresponding Author: Mohd Wira Mohd Shafiei (wira@usm.my)/Malaysia
Abstract
With medical technology innovation, robotic surgery has evolved from mechanical arm operations to AI-assisted decision-making, promoting deep integration of surgical medicine with engineering and computer science. This study employed CiteSpace software to conduct a bibliometric analysis of robotic surgical technology evolution literature from the Web of Science (2014-2024). Analysis of 520 publications revealed explosive growth from <5 annual papers (2014-2017) to 177 papers in 2024, representing a 3,540% increase. The dataset encompassed 2,968 authors, 1,957 institutions, and 266 journals across 77 countries/regions. The United States dominated with 191 publications (36.73%), followed by China (88, 16.92%) and the United Kingdom (71, 13.65%). The University of London emerged as the most productive institution (28 publications). Keyword burst analysis identified “artificial intelligence” (2019-2024) and “deep learning methods” (2022-2024) as dominant emerging themes. Computer science categories comprised >10% of publications, demonstrating strong interdisciplinary integration centered on surgery (31.54%) and biomedical engineering (12.31%). The field demonstrated clear evolution from basic instrument innovation to AI-driven, multi-disciplinary collaborative intelligent surgical systems, with Italy (centrality 0.18) and France (0.16) serving as critical knowledge brokers despite moderate publication volumes.
Keywords
Robotic surgery, Artificial intelligence, Bibliometric analysis, Technology evolution, Interdisciplinary research
