ItalianoEndoCAS is a center of excellence for computer-assisted surgery with two main goals: training medical and paramedical personnel and conducting research.
The center was founded with a grant from MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, Instruction and Research), which enabled the construction of a dedicated building on the main campus of the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana (AOUP) in Pisa in 2005.
In February 2022, an additional location was inaugurated at the “Santa Chiara” Hospital (in Pisa) to strengthen training activities dedicated to medical students.
In 2024, in light of the University’s growing interest in simulation, not only in the surgical field but more broadly in all specialties of medicine, EndoCAS evolved from being a center of the Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery to becoming an Inter-departmental Center involving the three medical area Departments (Statute of the Center):
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery;
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine;
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Molecular and Critical Care Pathology.
The EndoCAS research team comprises engineers, medical doctors, and surgeons from various specialties including general, plastic, vascular, thoracic, orthopedic, ENT, and gynecologic surgery.
Since its establishment, researchers at EndoCAS have been conducting research and development (R&D) activities within projects supported by national entities such as domestic foundations, regional and national funds, and the European Union. Several research projects, both past and ongoing, involve activities focused on the development and/or testing of surgical simulation systems.
In 2013, under the leadership of Prof. Mauro Ferrari and Prof. Franco Mosca, FACS (Hon), EndoCAS received its initial accreditation from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) as a Focused Accredited Education Institute.
In 2014, EndoCAS was selected as one of the 14 ACS-AEIs participating in the multi-center validation trial of the Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS) curriculum, whose call was announced during the ACS-AEI Consortium Meeting.
In 2018, the EndoCAS group published the largest single-center study on simulation in robotic surgery (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29541863).
In 2024, under the guidance of Prof. Emanuele Cigna (Director) and Prof. Luca Morelli (Vice-Director), the EndoCAS Center received reaccreditation from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) as a Focused Accredited Education Institute.
GOALS
EndoCAS’s main objective is to provide training to a wide range of professionals, including surgeons, physicians, residents, nurses, and medical students. This training is facilitated through cutting-edge commercial surgical simulators and research products developed by EndoCAS researchers.
