Establishment and implementation of a clinical application and research database for surgical robots in China

Robots are widely used in surgeries worldwide. To improve robotic surgical treatments, we established a database of clinical applications and research on surgical robots. Robotics-related literature included in the China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Vipshop, Chinese science citation database (CSCD), Web of Science, EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane databases up to September 2022 was searched and entered into the database. Information on all patients who had undergone robotic surgery at our hospital since 2016 was also included. Literature and case information was classified and evaluated according to standard guidelines and statements. The Gansu Provincial Hospital was the first to use evidence-based medical research methods to successfully establish a database of clinical applications and research on surgical robots. This database comprised literature search, upload, quality evaluation, risk of bias assessment, case information entry, and access functions. Based on the database, we conducted related studies in general surgery, gynecology, urology, thoracic surgery, and cardiovascular surgery, and published 16 meta-analyses and 15 clinical studies. Establishing this database removes language, retrieval, and evaluation barriers in clinicians' use of clinical evidence and lays the foundation for the efficient and accurate use of clinical data for future research. Further, it facilitates evidence-based evaluation of the effectiveness of robotic therapy, which may guide future medical practice. This typical case of interdisciplinary research aims to build a platform to disseminate knowledge and technology in robotic surgery.This article is categorized under: Technologies > Computer Architectures for Data Mining Application Areas > Data Mining Software Tools Application Areas > Education and Learning