AI Robot Successfully Performs Autonomous Surgery, achieving 100% success rate in pig gallbladder removal.© Provided by Jandan
The AI robot independently performed gallbladder surgery on a dead pig using video training, requiring almost no human intervention, achieving a 100% success rate.
Imagine a robot operating like a skilled surgeon, precisely maneuvering an endoscope to remove the gallbladder from a dead pig. This is not science fiction; it is a reality. Researchers have developed a dual-layer AI system that learned 16,000 actions from 17 hours of surgical video footage of human surgeons. These videos captured various intricate maneuvers, enabling the AI to analyze the surgical site in real-time.
In practice, the first layer of AI issues simple commands through the endoscope video, such as “Clamp the second tube.” The second layer of AI translates these commands into three-dimensional tool movements. The entire gallbladder surgery involves 17 independent tasks, which the robot repeated eight times, achieving perfect success each time without any failures.
Axel Krieger from Johns Hopkins University, a team member, explained: “Existing surgical robot technologies have made some surgeries less invasive, but the complication rates are not significantly lower than those of laparoscopic surgeries performed by human doctors. This prompted us to explore the next generation of robotic systems that can truly assist patients and surgeons.”
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Danail Stoyanov from University College London praised the research: “It demonstrates the limitless potential of AI and surgical robots. With the astonishing advancements in computer vision in surgical videos, combined with open robotic research platforms, we are finally seeing the dawn of surgical automation.”
Of course, the road to clinical application is still fraught with challenges. Stoyanov pointed out that despite the robot’s 100% success rate, it needs to self-correct six times during each surgery. For instance, if the clamp for grabbing an artery does not hold on the first attempt, the robot will immediately recognize the error and autonomously fix it. Axel Krieger added: “There are many moments of self-correction, but all of this is completely autonomous. It can correctly diagnose initial mistakes and then repair itself.” However, the robot occasionally needs to request human assistance to change surgical tools, indicating that a certain level of intervention is still required.
Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena from Imperial College London is enthusiastic about the potential of robotic surgery: “The future is bright and within reach. To safely implement this on humans, regulations must keep pace, which remains a significant challenge for the industry.”
Axel Krieger revealed that the next step is to enable the robot to perform autonomous surgeries on live animals, where factors like breathing and bleeding will introduce more complexity. Just think, if successful, this could revolutionize the surgical field, making surgeries safer and more efficient.
This article is translated from New Scientist.