There has been another mini-revolution in medicine.

Scientists from Johns Hopkins University have been working on their robot for many years, or to be more precise in terms, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) robotic system, which can perform surgical operations. Moreover, judging by a recent experiment, they are quite complex, where delicacy is required, and more importantly, he did it without the intervention of a human leather bag.

The robot has shown particular efficiency when performing operations on soft tissues. He performed it laparoscopically, acting through minimal incisions. Many procedures, such as attaching the ends of the intestine to each other, require great subtlety, focus and accuracy of the sniper. A small mistake can lead to the fact that the body will lose its tightness, and this will cause inflammation and a sea of ​​​​unpleasant sensations. Soft tissues move, and the surgeon needs to adapt to the current situation on the operating table, which is sometimes unpredictable and critical.

Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot

As a result of the experiment, this robot performed operations on four pigs. Compared to the results of human procedures, robotic suturing was found to be more accurate and consistent. None of the operated pigs had problems with leaky suturing of the intestine, all of them were, as far as one can judge, satisfied.

Such a complex operation required several innovations. Conventional surgical instruments have been modified to be used by a robot. It was also equipped with a set of near-infrared and structural light cameras to recreate a three-dimensional image of the surgical field. The device had to be programmed to create a surgical plan, taking into account the possible movement of soft tissues or emerging obstacles. In general, for more or less independent work according to a given algorithm.

The new development proves that in the near future, robots will be able to perform operations on people on their own. At the moment, many robotic assistant systems for surgeons are used in the world, but all of them still require the participation of an operator.

However, cyberpunk is getting closer, because the current achievement can be called a consequence of a similar operation carried out by another robot in 2016. However, then the system required constant human intervention, and the operation itself was not laparoscopic. That is, in just five years, some progress has been made.

What makes STAR special is that it is the first robotic system that plans, adapts and executes a soft tissue surgical plan with minimal human intervention.

Researcher Hamed Saeidi

bbabo.Net