"Chopstick" surgery: a novel technique improves surgeon performance and eliminates arm collision in robotic single-incision laparoscopic surgery.

Introduction: Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) is limited by the coaxial arrangement of the instruments. A surgical robot with wristed instruments could overcome this limitation, but the arms often collide when working coaxially. This study tests a new technique of "chopstick" surgery to enable use of the robotic arms through a single incision without collision.