AI Robot Successfully Performs First Surgery Without Human Assistance

For years, the art of robot-assisted treatments has constantly been progressing in medicine, allowing surgeons to improve their technique inside the operating room.

The surgical industry was progressing on the path of robot-assisted surgeries where human doctors would operate the robots.

According to U.S. researchers, a robot has successfully performed keyhole surgery on four pigs without the assistance of a person. Furthermore, they claim that the robot surgeon’s findings were “substantially better” than those of humans. The achievement is another step closer to the day when patients will be able to undergo total automated surgery.

Considering the progress and the overall captivation of the surgical industry, the global surgical robotics market is projected to grow drastically.

About the Robot

The smart tissue autonomous robot (Star) performed laparoscopic surgery to join two ends of an intestine in four pigs. According to research published in Science Robotics, the robot succeeded at the procedure, which demands a high degree of accuracy and repetitive motion.

The findings reveal that robots can conduct one of the most difficult and delicate operations in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. The robot is a vision-guided system that sutures soft tissue. It improved on a 2016 model that mended a pig’s intestines but required a huge incision and more human assistance to access the gut.

New features, such as specialized suturing instruments and imaging systems that provide more exact representations of the surgical area, allow for better surgical precision.

About the Surgery

In 2016, the same kind of surgery was performed, where the intestines were pulled outside the body cavity. This time the surgery was performed inside the body cavity, which is more difficult. The intestine is a soft tissue that moves around in the body with breathing.

In gastrointestinal surgery, connecting two ends of an intestine is a difficult technique that requires a surgeon to apply stitches — or sutures — with great precision and consistency. The robots here made 86 stitched in total in the current surgery. Even a minor hand tremor or a missed stitch might cause a leak, resulting in deadly complications for the patient.[A1]

Soft-tissue surgery is difficult for robots to do because it is unpredictable, requiring them to adjust swiftly to unexpected impediments. In the STAR robot, the research described a unique control system that can alter the surgical plan in real-time, just like a human surgeon.[A2]

Why is this Surgery Remarkable?

The Star is the first robotic system capable of planning, adapting, and executing a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimum human assistance.

The technique to assure that surgical operations that require high precision and repeatability is accomplished. This technique is developed with increased accuracy and precision in every patient, regardless of surgeon expertise in the most complicated area, i.e., robotic anastomosis (surgically uniting two structures).

As a result, a more democratized surgical treatment to patient care will emerge, with more predictable and consistent patient results.

Global Surgical Robotics Market

Over the projected period 2021 and 2031, the worldwide surgical robotics market is expected to rise at a rapid pace.

The most important factors include the rising frequency of chronic diseases, the growing global population, especially the older population, better reimbursement systems, and public initiatives and funding for the development of technologically improved products.

Surgical robotic systems are comprised principally of surgical systems (capital equipment), instruments and accessories, and services (maintenance and up-gradation). The concept of advanced technologies has broadened in the last decade, encompassing the use of these systems for a variety of surgical operations ranging from general surgery to orthopedic surgery.

With the deployment of technology developments and advancements in minimally invasive surgical techniques, the rising demand for surgical robotic systems is expected to continue in the future.

The global surgical robots market is expected to rise at a robust CAGR of 10.2 percent between 2021 and 2031. In terms of revenue, the surgical robots market generated $5.46 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $16.77 billion by 2031.

Final Thoughts

The scientists have worked their way through the process of digitizing the surgical industry. It has immense benefits to the patients and the doctors provided that adequate facilities and infrastructure is available. The present models are still work-in-progress, but robotic surgeons can overcome problems such as the shortage of workforce, which is dire in the current situation, and many more.