Overview
- The Nature paper, which was published Wednesday, July 8, reports that UC San Diego teams used teleoperated humanoid robots nicknamed “Surgie” to complete two gallbladder removals in pigs during a preclinical trial.
- One operation was done by a human-robot team with a surgeon assisting a humanoid and a second was completed by two humanoid robots working together, and all actions were controlled by human surgeons rather than autonomous systems.
- The robots are compact roughly 1.5-meter, 27–60 pound platforms adapted with custom tool holders so they could use standard laparoscopic instruments and fit into normal operating-room workflows.
- Tests exposed practical limits that must be solved before clinical use: the robots needed mid-procedure recalibration, procedures took longer than current systems, and communication latency remains a barrier to long-distance teleoperation.
- Researchers say next steps include refining controls and communications, more extensive preclinical validation, and regulatory and clinical trials to assess safety before any human deployment, with the broader goal of expanding access in under-resourced settings.