WATCH: The Future of CV Surgery: Dr. Alan Lumsden Explains Why You Should Pay Attention to Emerging Robotics Tech

Advances in surgical robotics, imaging integration and augmented reality continue to push medicine toward a future defined by precision, efficiency and expanded access to subspecialty care.

In the video above, Dr. Alan Lumsden, chairman of cardiovascular surgery at Houston Methodist, shares how the breakthrough technologies featured at the Surgical Technology & Robotics Summit (STaRS) are reshaping what’s possible in cardiovascular surgery.

Reimagining ultrasound through robotic efficiency

One of the standout innovations Dr. Lumsden describes is a robotic system designed to enable remote ultrasound — an application with important operational implications.

Specifically, the possibility of performing scans remotely could relieve critical staffing pressures and extend expertise where it’s needed most.

“We have a heck of a time in our lab recruiting and retaining ultrasound techs," says Dr. Lumsden. "There's not enough of them.”

Dr. Lumsden describes the moment of recognition vividly: after seeing the robot in action, he recalls telling a colleague, “You got to come up here and look at this. This may help us immediately with some of the challenges we've got.”

While remote ultrasound represents just one example, it signals the broader theme of technology directly addressing clinical bottlenecks.

Expanding possibilities in microvascular surgery

Another notable advancement involves a next‑generation robot engineered for microvascular anastomosis, a procedure that requires exceptional precision.

Dr. Lumsden says these techniques typically involve “joining tubes, blood vessels or lymphatics that are less than two millimeters; or super microsurgery as defined as less than one millimeter.”

Historically, the extreme technical difficulty has limited the use of these procedures. However, the new robotic system changes that equation. It offers optical magnification so powerful that, all of a sudden, the vessel that previously was barely visible now looks huge.

It also incorporates tremor filtration: “It allows you to measure your tremor, and it takes that out from the robot,” says Dr. Lumsden.

According to Dr. Lumsden, “it's going to open up a whole new vista of potential procedures” and may provide complex microsurgical care to patients who historically lacked access to such subspecialized expertise.

The growing fusion of imaging, robotics, VR and AR

Looking ahead, Dr. Lumsden says he expects an increasing convergence of modalities: “We're going to see this fusion of imaging with robotics.” He says immersive technologies are also on the horizon, with teams actively exploring “VR and AR … [and] how do we incorporate that into an operating room?”

He draws parallels to the dramatic evolution already seen in thoracic surgery, reflecting that if someone had predicted “95% of lung resections, esophageal reconstruction, were going to be done with the robot, nobody would have believed that.” But as adoption grew and outcomes proved strong, robotics became commercially viable — opening the door for other surgical disciplines, including cardiovascular surgery, to follow.

A rapidly expanding ecosystem of surgical robotics

The momentum has triggered broader industry engagement. As Dr. Lumsden notes, “what you're starting to see is other companies starting to build surgical robots.” This competition promises not only better tools but also an influx of engineering talent: “I think it also brings out a lot of other smart people and engineers into the field.”

He predicts that technological advancement is accelerating toward “an exponential growth curve,” and reflects with enthusiasm: “we're just happy to be part of this.”

Dr. Lumsden’s perspective paints a clear picture: the intersection of robotics, imaging and immersive technology is transforming what’s possible in cardiovascular surgery. The innovations are practical, impactful and already addressing real‑world challenges such as staffing shortages, microsurgical precision and access to subspecialty care.