A remotely controllable surgical instrument comprising an instrument shaft having a proximal end drivably intercoupled to a drive unit and a distal end insertable within a subject for performing a medical procedure at an operative site within the subject, a remotely disposed user interface interconnected to a remotely disposed signal processor which processes commands received from the user interface, the signal processor interconnected to the drive unit for transmitting processed command signals received from the user interface to the drive unit characterized in that the instrument shaft comprises an elongated disposable shaft removably interconnected to the drive unit via a coupling mechanism and a distal instrument drivable via cables.
