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Introduction
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few decades, thanks to rapid technological advances and growing consensus in the clinical community. According to a report on laparoscopic devices recently released by Global Industry Analysts, 7.5 million laparoscopies were performed worldwide in 2015. 1 For a number of operations-such as appendectomy, tubal ligation, cholecystectomy, gastric bypass, myomectomy and prostatectomy-more than 90% of interventions are now performed through minimally invasive approaches, with projected growth rates of up to 15% in the next 5-10 years. 2 The main reason behind this paradigm shift is the significant reduction of trauma to the patient's body that results from the minimisation or even elimination of surgical incisions. The reduced physical trauma, in turn, leads to a number of additional benefits for the patient: lower incidence of postsurgery complications, reduced pain, quicker recovery, shorter length of hospital stay, minimal cosmetic disfiguration, decreased psychological impact and overall improved quality of life. 3-8 Choosing to perform MIS over open surgery, however, means also embracing a series of potential disadvantages from the surgeon's perspective. These include limited operating space and field of vision; the lack of haptic feedback; the loss of stereo vision and depth perception; diminished hand-eye coordination; prolonged learning curves and training periods; extended operation times and increased costs. 9-11 With the recent developments in medical and surgical technology, such complications are gradually being overcome, enabling the adoption of minimally invasive procedures in hospitals and clinics around the world. The latest high-resolution miniaturised cameras now provide surgeons with a detailed view of the operating space, supplying stereo vision and optimal lighting of hidden targets regardless of their location in the body. In some cases, it is even possible to access and view certain anatomical locations better than with open interventions. Minimally invasive instruments have also been designed and engineered to allow routine tasks to be performed safely and accurately even in a limited space. Modern imaging technology and image processing techniques, moreover, provide accurate guidance and navigation throughout the intervention, increasing precision and safety while speeding up the procedure. Recent navigation systems offer drastic improvements in the way information is acquired, displayed and integrated in the surgical workflow, through augmented reality and multimodal image registration. Virtual...