A Robot Performs Laparoscopic Surgery Without Human Help

A robot has successfully performed laparoscopic surgery on a pig without human intervention for the first time.

This is a significant step in robotics towards fully automated operations on humans.

Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) carried out the delicate surgery, which involved connecting two ends of an intestine, in four animals.

Dr Krieger, a Johns Hopkins professor of electrical and computer engineering, helped create the robot, a vision-guided system designed specifically to suture soft tissue, with colleagues at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC and Jin Kang.

What makes STAR special is that it is the first robotic system to plan, adapt, and execute a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimal human intervention. Robotic anastomosis (surgically joining two structures) is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with more accuracy and precision in every patient independent of surgeon skill. We hypothesise that this will result in a democratised surgical approach to patient care with more predictable and consistent patient outcomes.

Johns Hopkins, professor of electrical and computer engineering

The current version improves a 2016 model that repaired a pig’s intestines, but required a large incision to access the intestine and more guidance from humans.

It performed the procedure in four animals, producing significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure.

The robot excelled at the procedure, which requires a high level of precision and repetitive movements.

Scientists claim that this procedure marked the first time a robot had performed a laparoscopic surgery without human help.