The EAS technology Winter meeting was reinstituted last year following the initiative and tradition of our unforgettable friend and technology pioneer, Gerhard Buess who founded the technology committee in 1995. Due to the very successful meeting on Surgical Robotics in Torino in February 2011 and an increasing interest and patient demand on robotic assisted surgery the technology committee decided to cover this topic again for this year's winter meeting which took place 13th of January in Brussels.

The aim of this year's meeting was to particularly discuss the various applications for robotic technology in clinical practice so as reviewing clinical evidence as well as future technologies. The meeting was chaired by Yoav Mintz and Andreas Melzer and the opening talk was given by Sir Alfred Cuschieri who himself was not always in great favor of laparoscopic robotics which was inaugurated about 20 years ago by the Tübingen-Karlsruhe group. In view of recent clinical evidence of improved efficacy and efficiency of robotic surgery he became a promoter of this technology and delivered a fantastic overview of robotic surgery beyond 3-D and 7 DoF (Degrees of Freedom). The current state of the art of DaVinci surgery with the provocative title "realism after the preliminary enthusiasm" provided by Guy Cadiére grounded the attendees by providing a critical review of the todays robotic surgery. This excellent talk was followed by a lively discussion of the audience dealing with the current critical issues of utilization and indication of robotic surgery, technical issues of set up and maintenance, associated costs, the required improvements and training.

In summary robotic surgery was seen to have a bright future but significant technical issues have to be solved and competition in the field seems to be vital for further technical improvements and reduction of cost. The session was concluded by an overview of novel applications of robotic systems in the field of image guided surgery and interventional radiology including MRI/CT compatible robots and robotic assisted MRI guided focused Ultrasound surgery. The EAES technology, committee wants to express gratitude to the executive board allowing these important meetings to take place and to financially support the organization.