Medical breakthrough: robot removes gallbladder all alone!

Medical breakthrough: robot removes gallbladder all alone!

Johns Hopkins University, USA - What happens if people and machine meet in surgery? A groundbreaking experiment from the USA provides an exciting answer. Researchers of Johns Hopkins University recently removed a robot-and that without human help without human help. The operation, which was documented in the journal "Science Robotics", marks an important step in the development of surgical robots.

The robot called SRT-H carried out 17 complex work steps through a gallbladder removal by working real animal material. He identified channels and arteries with remarkable precision, placed clips and cut with special tools. The medical team was only responsible for the voice commands, but did not directly intervene. It is impressive that SRT-H learned his skills through studying surgical videos. Although the operation was carried out 100 percent precisely, the robot was slower than human surgeons, but navigated more smoothly and efficiently.

pioneering work in autonomous surgery

for the team, consisting of experts like Ji Woong Kim, who is now working at Stanford University, this is a breakthrough. The new SRT-H robot, on the other hand, has the ability to react flexibly to anatomical features. Tobias Renkawitz, medical director of the Clinic for Orthopedics at the University of Regensburg, sees these results a positive development for the future of medicine.

In a further step towards autonomy, another robot, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (Star) , also a fully automatic laparoscopic operation. Star carried out a Darmanastomosis of four pigs, a process in gastrointestinal surgery that requires the highest precision. The system is based on a 2016 model, but has now integrated new functions that increase autonomy and surgical accuracy.

How does modern surgery robotics work?

Surgical robotics has the potential to revolutionize the operation landscape. Robots support surgeons in complex interventions and not only offer improved precision, but also a reduction in invasiveness. The central advantages include improved visualization and a larger reach of the instruments that go beyond the human hand. Some outstanding systems are the da vinci, the specialists in general, gynecological and urological surgery.

A trend that is becoming increasingly important in medical robotics is the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning. In the future, these technologies could not only improve the quality of the surgical results, but also reduce the need for a human surgeon in certain tasks. However, these developments raise questions about acceptance and liability in autonomous operations that have to be discussed intensively in the medical community.