Engineering for Patient Safety: Issues in Minimally Invasive Procedures is a brief study of how human factors engineers have worked with medical personnel to improve patient safety and reduce medical error in the newest minimally invasive surgical procedures. In traditional surgery, surgeons had the advantages of three-dimensional vision and hands-on feedback as a result of direct contact with instruments and tissue. While the new surgical techniques have cost benefits and generally reduce patient trauma and recovery time, a whole new cast of potential problems has been introduced and there...