Advancements in robotic assisted microsurgery: Exploring the MUSA robot in reconstructive microsurgical and supermicrosurgical procedures

Robotic assistance in microsurgery offers increased precision, tremor elimination, motion scaling, and improved ergonomics. Although robots are widely used in other surgical fields, their integration into reconstructive microsurgery has been limited. The MUSA robot is the first robot specifically designed for microsurgery to address this unmet need. This report presents a comprehensive overview of the clinical indications and experiences with the MUSA2 robot at our center, including lymphatico-venous anastomosis, free flap breast reconstruction, free flaps reconstruction of the lower extremity, digital nerve repair, and finger replantation. Robotic assistance has great potential for its use in microsurgery. Challenges such as higher cost and setup times could be addressed by the evolution of the systems. Due to its compatibility with standard instrumentation and short learning curve the MUSA robot has promising initial results. This stimulates further research into robotic assistance as a tool in complex microsurgical procedures.