Robot successfully performs keyhole surgery on pigs without human help

The robot surgeon will see you now.

For years, the world of medicine has been steadily advancing the art of robot-assisted procedures, enabling doctors to enhance their technique inside the operating theatre.

The breakthrough is another step towards the day when fully automated surgery can be performed on patients.

The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (Star) carried out laparoscopic surgery to connect two ends of an intestine in four pigs. According to a paper published in Science Robotics, the robot excelled at the procedure, which requires a high level of precision and repetitive movements.

Axel Krieger, of Johns Hopkins University, said it marked the first time a robot had performed laparoscopic surgery without human help.

Experts say new features allow for improved surgical precision, including specialised suturing tools and imaging systems that provide more accurate visualisations of the surgical field.

It is hard for robots to perform soft-tissue surgery because of how unpredictable it can be, forcing them to be able to adapt quickly to handle unexpected obstacles. The paper set out a novel control system in the Star that can adjust the surgical plan in real time, just as a human surgeon would.