Keyhole surgery has been made possible through the rapid development of various medical technologies, first pioneered in the 1970s. Revolutionary in the way it reduced the risk, surgical complications, healing time and scarring compared to open surgery, keyhole surgery soon became the preferred method throughout many surgical specialities.Here, John Wickham, the 'godfather' of robotic surgery, reflects on a life spent in research, discovery and struggle for innovation in order to make keyhole surgery widespread, accessible and available to patients. An Open and Shut Case tracks the evolution...

Keyhole surgery has been made possible through the rapid development of various medical technologies, first pioneered in the 1970s. Revolutionary in the way it reduced the risk, surgical complications, healing time and scarring compared to open surgery, keyhole surgery soon became the preferred method throughout many surgical specialities.Here, John Wickham, the 'godfather' of robotic surgery, reflects on a life spent in research, discovery and struggle for innovation in order to make keyhole surgery widespread, accessible and available to patients. An Open and Shut Case tracks the evolution...