Surgeons at the University of California San Diego have completed the world's first surgeries using teleoperated humanoid robots. In a preclinical trial published in Nature, two robots nicknamed "Surgie" successfully performed gallbladder removal surgeries — one with a human surgeon assisting, and another with two robots working together side by side.
The breakthrough could help solve a growing problem in healthcare: not enough surgeons to meet patient needs. Michael Yip, an electrical and computer engineering professor at UC San Diego and one of the study's senior authors, explained that remotely operated robots have real potential to bring critical surgeries to patients who would otherwise go without.
"This can help address the health care crisis not only in the United States but but also worldwide," Yip said.
Traditional robotic surgery systems are large and specialized. They weigh about 1,800 pounds, require a big team to set up, and need operating rooms to be specially retrofitted. The humanoid robots used in this study are a stark contrast — they stand just 5 feet tall and weigh only 60 pounds. That makes them compact enough to deploy in remote communities or disaster zones where building a full surgical setup would be too expensive or impractical.
Unlike systems built for one specific purpose, humanoid robots can be versatile. They can learn different procedures and handle general tasks, which makes them useful in unpredictable environments.
Dr. Shanglei Liu, an assistant professor of surgery at UC San Diego who teleoperated one of the robots during the study, said a procedure performed by a humanoid robot was just as precise as one done with a traditional surgical robotic system. The team was also surprised by how naturally the robot fit into their workflow.
"You can imagine these robots being deployed in remote communities where staffing is challenging, or in austere environments like search-and-rescue scenarios where a massive deployment of field medicine is needed in a short period of time," Yip said.
The researchers caution this is just a first step. The surgeries were performed on large nonprimate mammals, not humans. But the team believes humanoid robots could eventually assist in operating rooms, and one day perform surgeries while being guided remotely by human surgeons.