COSMOS MAGAZINE

Robot performs gallbladder surgery  on a pig

A surgical robot has successfully carried out a key part of gallbladder removal, or cholyecystectomy, on a pig cadaver.

Credit: Johns Hopkins University

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Trained by watching videos of real operations, the robot can now follow voice commands and adjust to unexpected changes during surgery.

Credit: Johns Hopkins University

It performed the surgery on 8 pig gallbladders with 100% accuracy but took longer to do so than a human surgeon.

Credit: Johns Hopkins University

The robot even adapted to unexpected conditions, such as an altered starting position and blood-like dyes which changed the appearance of the gallbladder and surrounding tissues.

Credit: Johns Hopkins University

The team now plans to train the system on more types of surgeries and expand its capabilities to perform these completely autonomously.

Credit: Johns Hopkins University

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