Artificial intelligence-powered technologies, robotic systems, telesurgery and personalized treatment planning were highlighted as key to the future of urological surgery at the IURES 2026 Congress. The congress presented new applications that allow surgery to be planned in advance on a three-dimensional digital twin of the patient and rehearsed in a virtual environment.
Prof. Dr. Burak Turna, president of the IURES 2026 Congress, said the goal in urology was to provide personalized, technology-enhanced treatments that preserve organs and bodily functions as much as possible while treating the disease.
Fifth-generation systems in robotic surgery
Turna said fifth-generation robotic surgery platforms were more than systems that simply refine the surgeon’s hand movements. He noted that these platforms were evolving with advanced imaging, greater surgical precision, haptic feedback and features that enable more effective use of surgical data.
Artificial intelligence can analyze surgical images, anatomical structures and large volumes of surgical data to support the surgeon’s decision-making during an operation. The integration of robotic systems with artificial intelligence was described as an important step in the development of personalized surgery.
Turna also explained that focal treatments used in appropriately selected patients with localized prostate cancer aim to target only the diseased or cancerous focus. The approach seeks to preserve as much as possible the healthy parts of the prostate and critical anatomical structures in the surrounding area.
Taking expertise to remote areas through telesurgery
Prof. Dr. Murat Binbay, the other congress president, said the new era in urology was being shaped by telesurgery, single-port technology, robotic surgery and artificial intelligence-powered decision-making mechanisms integrated into robotic systems.
Binbay said telesurgery could eliminate the need for the surgeon and patient to be physically present in the same location. He said the technology could make it possible to provide more patients with advanced robotic surgery expertise regardless of geographical distance.
Telesurgery has the potential to reduce inequalities in access to healthcare, particularly in regions where advanced robotic surgery expertise is limited. However, data security, the liability framework and infrastructure requirements must be carefully assessed before the method can be used widely in clinical practice.
Binbay said advanced robotic surgery performed through a single incision could improve patient comfort, particularly in kidney and prostate cancer operations. In the future, robotic systems are expected to recognize anatomical structures, warn the surgeon when approaching critical areas and be controlled through voice commands.
Preoperative planning with a digital twin
Prof. Dr. Emre Huri, the second vice president of IURES, said personalized surgical planning was advancing through 3D printing, digital twins and virtual reality technologies. He said these technologies were moving surgery from a process based on prediction to a planning stage grounded in millimeter-level calculations.
Huri defined a digital twin as an exact computer-generated replica of a patient’s organ or anatomical region. He described the model as a mathematical and geometric structure based on the patient’s radiological data.
In the process, high-resolution CT or MRI images are obtained as DICOM files and transferred to specialized engineering software. Engineers and doctors use specific algorithms to distinguish bones, vessels, organs and tumors from one another, creating a three-dimensional digital model of the patient that can be rotated and examined internally.
The surgeon can examine the tumor’s relationship with blood vessels from different angles using this model and rehearse the operation with virtual scalpels. Virtual reality applications aim to reduce the unexpected risks that may be encountered during an actual operation.
The surgeon’s role in robotic surgery
Prof. Dr. Fatih Atuğ, president of IURES, said nerve-sparing robotic surgery in appropriately selected patients could enable the precise separation of structures around the prostate.
Atuğ said robotic surgery could offer advantages over open surgery, including less blood loss, a lower need for blood transfusions, smaller incisions and shorter hospital stays. However, he stressed that the success of an operation is not determined solely by the robot used; the surgeon’s experience, appropriate patient selection and the technique applied are also important.
Atuğ said prostate cancer becomes more common with age and explained that multiparametric prostate MRI evaluates the prostate gland and surrounding tissues using different imaging techniques. The method does not involve radiation and can help identify suspicious areas and enable targeted biopsies in appropriate patients.
The importance of assessing each patient’s risk profile, rather than performing an immediate biopsy on every patient with elevated PSA levels, was emphasized. When a suspicious area is seen on MRI, a targeted sample can be obtained through MRI-ultrasound fusion biopsy, with the aim of increasing the likelihood of detecting clinically significant prostate cancers.
