AI robot performs gall bladder surgery on pig

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An AI-powered robot has performed gallbladder removal surgeries on pig organs without human assistance, with researchers predicting human trials may begin within ten years.

The system was trained on video footage of human surgeons operating on organs from dead pigs. It completed eight surgeries with 100 per cent success, according to a paper published in Science Robotics.

The robot carried out all 17 steps of the procedure, including clipping, cutting, and removing the gallbladder. Each operation lasted just over five minutes.

It corrected its course around six times per surgery and selected tools and adjusted to anatomical differences on its own.

The project was led by Johns Hopkins University, with researchers from Stanford and Columbia. The Royal College of Surgeons of England called for further testing before clinical use.

John McGrath of NHS England told The Guardian that autonomous robots could eventually allow one surgeon to oversee multiple procedures. He, all the same, warned live human trials pose challenges such as bleeding, breathing, and movement.

Nuha Yassin of the Royal College of Surgeons said trials must begin cautiously and stressed the need to test under real surgical conditions.

Most robotic surgeries in the NHS are fully human-controlled. Only bone-cutting in joint replacements is partially automated.

Besides surgery, artificial intelligence has made huge strides in recent years in medical diagnostics.

Microsoft's MultiModal GPT-4 Diagnostic Orchestrator has matched or exceeded doctors in identifying complex illnesses, solving 80–85 per cent of tough cases, compared to 20–30 per cent by unaided physicians.