Robot successfully performs keyhole surgery on pigs

The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (Star) successfully performed laparoscopic surgery on pigs on its own, US researchers claimed. The results were "significantly better" than the ones by humans, according to the researchers. The surgery requires a high level of precision and repetitive movements, connecting two ends of an intestine.

The Guardian reported that Axel Krieger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at John Hopkins University, said it was the first time a robot had laparoscopic surgery without any help from humans. He said, "Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. The Star performed the procedure in four animals and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure."

Krieger helped create the robot, a vision-guided system that was designed specifically to suture soft tissue. The surgery itself can be quite unpredictable, compelling the surgeons to act quickly to handle unexpected obstacles, a slight tremor, or a misplaced stitch resulting in fatal complications. Thus robots require special suturing tools and imaging systems providing accurate visualizations for the surgery.