According to a, a robot successfully performed “keyhole” bowel surgery on pigs without human assistance to learn from Johns Hopkins University (published in Scientific Robotics). In addition, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) managed the tricky procedure “much better” than human doctors. The breakthrough marks a significant step toward automated surgery, which could one day help “democratize” patient care, the researchers said.
Laparoscopic or keyhole surgery requires surgeons to manipulate and sew up intestines and other organs through tiny incisions, a technique that is required high level of skill and has little room for error. The team opted for an “intestinal anastomosis” (connecting two ends of the intestine), a particularly challenging keyhole procedure.
Soft tissue surgery in general is difficult for robots due to unpredictability. To handle this, the STAR robot was equipped with specialized sewing tools and state-of-the-art imaging systems that could provide extremely accurate visualizations.
John Hopkins
Specifically, it featured a “structured light-based three-dimensional endoscope and machine learning-based tracking algorithm” to guide the robots. “We believe that an advanced three-dimensional vision system is essential to make intelligent surgical robots smarter and safer,” said John Hopkins Professor Jin Kang. Additionally, STAR is the first robotic system that “can plan, adjust, and execute a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimal human intervention,” said first author Hamed Saeidi. Using all of this technology, the STAR robot successfully performed the procedure in four animals
Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive compared to regular surgery, which contributes to better patient outcomes. However, because it takes so long to master, there is a relatively small pool of physicians who are able to do so.
“Robotic anastomosis is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with greater accuracy and precision in every patient, regardless of the surgeon’s skill,” said senior author Axel Krieger of Johns Hopkins. “We envision this leading to a democratized surgical approach to patient care with more predictable and consistent patient outcomes.”
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