Search

Telesurgery is expected to improve medical access in areas with limited resources, facilitate the rapid dissemination of new surgical procedures, and advance surgical education. While previously hindered by communication delays and costs, recent advancements in information technology and the emergence of new surgical robots have created an environment conducive to societal implementation. In Japan, the legal framework established in 2019 allows for remote surgical support under the supervision of an actual surgeon. The Japan Surgical Society led a collaborative effort, involving various stakeholders, to conduct social verification experiments using telesurgery, resulting in the development of a Japanese version of the "Telesurgery Guidelines" in June 2022. These guidelines outline requirements for medical teams, communication environments, robotic systems, and security measures for communication lines, as well as responsibility allocation, cost burden, and the handling of adverse events during telesurgery. In addition, they address telementoring and full telesurgery. The guidelines are expected to be revised as needed, based on the utilization of telesurgery, advancements in surgical robots, and improvements in information technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of countermeasures against a large-scale disaster is an important focus of research for the future. This article briefly introduces some Japanese research and development activities for disaster-related technologies, including those carried out by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). First, we discuss lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. We show that the preferred communication tool in a disaster situation depends on the time that has elapsed after the disaster. We then summarize several research projects for developing robust and dependable communication networks, including an information distribution platform, and outline the research projects of NICT's Resilient ICT Research Center as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]