Robots Successfully Perform First Live Animal Surgeries With Surgeon Help.

Humanoid robots have performed surgery on live animals for the very first time in an astonishing new breakthrough. Two bots were remotely operated by surgeons to perform keyhole procedures on pigs during this pre-clinical trial. One operation involved a teleoperated robot assisted by a human removing a pig's gallbladder. Meanwhile, a first-of-its-kind event saw two robots working side by side in a team of their own.

The Unitree G1 robots, nicknamed Surgie, were fitted with specialized adapters so they could hold surgical tools but remained otherwise unmodified. Researchers claim Surgie is just as precise as conventional surgical robots while costing only a fraction of the price. They are far easier to set up and use in any clinic. With a growing shortfall of skilled surgeons to meet patient needs, researchers say these bots could one day operate on humans.

Senior author Professor Michael Yip from UC San Diego notes that you can imagine these robots being deployed in remote communities where staffing is challenging. They fit perfectly into austere environments like search and rescue scenarios too. The team began by testing the robots' capacity for fine motor skills, having them handle inanimate objects and standard surgical equipment first.

Once satisfied with the practice sessions, the robots graduated to performing real surgical procedures on anaesthetized pigs. A report published in the journal Nature confirms both operations were completed successfully. At one point there was some minor bleeding, but the bots quickly stemmed the flow without panic. In fact, researchers say they were surprised at just how well the machines functioned under pressure.

Controlling the movements of a humanoid felt more natural than moving the arms of large surgical robots, especially for people not trained on those specialized systems already. This raises a real possibility that humanoid robots could soon be a key part of surgical teams working on actual human patients. Professor Yip adds that remotely operated and autonomous humanoid robots have real potential for amplifying access to critical surgeries to which patients would otherwise never get help.

Surgeons currently use specialized robotic surgery systems equipped with three or four arms to operate on patients today. The problem is these units can weigh up to 800kg, require a large team to set up, and take up a lot of space in the operating room. That space usually needs retrofitting just to accommodate such heavy machinery. By contrast, Surgie stands just five feet tall and weighs only 27kg even with its adapters fitted.

This makes these compact humanoids a perfect option for situations where cumbersome traditional robots simply aren't feasible at all. Co-author Dr Shanglei Liu, a surgeon at UC San Diego, states it is a fraction of the cost and takes a fraction of the space in an operating room. The urgency here cannot be overstated as hospitals struggle with limited resources and space constraints daily.

The new robot system launches with a promise of easy deployment anywhere from remote villages right out to space missions. It seems simple enough on paper. Yet the researchers admit these bots are far from perfect. Several problems still need ironing out before they can save lives reliably.

Surgie required recalibration multiple times during the actual operation. This back-and-forth adjustment wasted valuable minutes and pushed the surgery well beyond expected timelines. Latency remains another hurdle. That is the delay between an operator's input and the robot's output. It must shrink significantly for these machines to become fully practical in high-stakes environments.

Still, the vision holds promise. Future units could treat humans where large surgical teams or specialized heavy robots simply cannot fit. The team stays extremely optimistic that current hurdles are solvable soon. They point out a stark reality: the first robotic keyhole surgery took six hours to finish what now takes just thirty minutes. Progress is happening fast.

Even if Surgie isn't quite ready to cut into a human patient today, it has a bright future as an assistant. These humanoid bots can walk around and perform most tasks a person does. Imagine them fetching tools or cleaning up right after an operation ends. Professor Yip explains the stakes clearly. Many communities struggle with adequate staffing on surgical teams. This shortage means patients are not getting treated at all.

"Our goal is an operating theatre of the future," says Professor Yip. In that vision, humanoid robots and humans work side by side as an integrated team. They will deliver procedures to those in need together. The path forward looks steep, but the destination saves lives.