Robotic surgery still carries the glittery image of cutting-edge medicine — if you excuse the pun.

For those patients with the financial means, it’s been a mainstream option for some time now, particularly when it comes to radical prostatectomies.

Its supporters boast of its benefits, including the way surgeons trained in their use are bestowed with stereoscopic 3D vision that can magnify the surgical field along with increased ease of complex manoeuvres using precisely controlled instrument movement in tiny, confined spaces.

One statistic may give an idea of how “mainstream” it has become: by the end of last year some 1.2 million robotic procedures had been performed around the world, and yes, most of them were robotic-assisted radical prostatectomies (RARP).