Medical history was quietly made this week as humanoid robots successfully performed surgery on live animals for the very first time.
While automated arms have been assisting in operating theatres for years, handing full procedural control over to bipedal, human-shaped machines marks a massive leap forward for surgical technology. The landmark trial brings us one step closer to a future where robots could handle complex procedures in remote locations or emergency zones without a human surgeon anywhere near the room.
Engineers and surgeons teamed up to test something completely new.
A team from the University of California, San Diego, wanted to find out just how useful robots shaped like people, with two legs and arms, could actually be in an operating room. Robots have already been used in certain kinds of small, precise surgeries before, but never one built like this, walking and moving in a human like way.
The best known surgical robot system already in use lets a surgeon sit at a console and guide several robotic arms to carry out careful operations. This new test wanted to see whether a totally different kind of robot, one shaped more like a person, could do just as good a job.
The robots were carefully tested before any surgery began.
Before trying anything close to a real operation, the team first checked how well the robots could handle small, careful movements. This meant practising with ordinary objects and typical surgical tools during simple hands on tasks, always guided directly by a skilled human surgeon controlling the robot.
Once the team felt happy that the human and robot were working well as a pair, they moved on to a real test, carrying out small cut surgery on pigs that had been safely put to sleep beforehand. The goal was to remove the pig’s gallbladder using the robot itself.
A human surgeon controlled the robot from a separate console.
During the actual operation, a human surgeon guided the robot’s movements from a console, while another doctor stayed close by the animal to step in and help if needed. At one point during the procedure, the team even brought in a second robot to help finish the job.
Both attempts at surgery were completed successfully. In one case there was a small amount of bleeding, but it was quickly stopped without any serious problems happening during the operation.
Surgeons say it felt surprisingly similar to robotic surgery they already use.
One of the surgeons involved said the experience felt a lot like the early days of robotic surgery, complete with some familiar early problems, like the robot’s tools occasionally bumping into each other, small delays in how quickly it responded, and needing to keep adjusting its position throughout.
What really stood out to the surgeon though was how quickly this whole project came together. While the very first robotic surgery system took several decades to reach the point of successfully operating on live pigs, this entire project went from a simple idea to an actual surgery in just nine months.
The surgeon controlling the robot felt comfortable using it.
The surgeon who actually controlled the humanoid robot during the pig surgeries admitted there’s always a bit of nervousness when trying something brand new for the first time. Even so, he said the team felt comfortable with how the robot had been built and prepared beforehand.
He explained that controlling the humanoid robot felt very similar to using robotic surgery tools that are already available and in regular use. There was some noticeable delay and a need to adjust the robot occasionally during the procedures, though both surgeons agreed this is completely expected for such an early, first attempt version of the technology.
Both surgeons noticed real benefits while using the robot.
Both doctors involved said working with the humanoid robot actually helped them work more precisely while also leaving them feeling less tired during the procedure, benefits already linked to other robotic surgery tools too.
What makes this humanoid version particularly interesting is its size. These two legged robots take up a lot less space than existing surgical robot systems, and they’re also much easier to move from one place to another, opening up new possibilities for where this kind of surgery could eventually happen.
This technology could eventually help people in hard to reach places.
One of the surgeons suggested this kind of robot could one day let surgeons operate from far away in places with limited medical resources, where having access to careful, precise surgery could make a real difference to how well someone recovers.
This could include communities that don’t get much medical support, dangerous places, or locations that are simply very hard to physically get to. In these kinds of settings, a skilled surgeon could potentially guide the robot from somewhere else entirely, bringing expert level surgery to places that would otherwise struggle to get it.
It could also help in places without enough medical staff on site.
Beyond reaching faraway places, robots controlled remotely like this could actually help in situations where there simply aren’t enough trained staff around in person. Being able to carry out surgery remotely could let a surgeon help far beyond their usual hospital, bringing proper care to people in places where resources remain limited.
The robots could also work more like an assistant in these settings, supporting a single surgeon working mostly alone, especially in situations where a whole surgical team simply isn’t available to help out. This could prove particularly useful in smaller hospitals or remote clinics that don’t have the same number of staff bigger city hospitals usually rely on.
