Humanoid robots perform first teleoperated surgeries

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have achieved a historic milestone by conducting the first teleoperated surgeries using humanoid robots on live subjects. This innovation could revolutionize telemedicine by enabling surgeons to operate remotely using agile, mass-produced robots.

The robot, named Surgie, is an adapted version of the Unitree G1, a Chinese-made robot known for its agility and comparatively low cost. In preclinical trials, Surgie successfully removed gallbladders in pigs, operating both with a human assistant and in coordination with another robot.

This development challenges the current standard in robotic surgery, the da Vinci system, which is large, expensive, and requires specialized operating rooms. Surgie, standing at 1.50 meters and weighing approximately 27 kilograms, is considerably more compact and affordable. Its developers believe this makes high-complexity surgery accessible in remote areas, battlefields, or even space.

To enable Surgie to handle surgical instruments, UC San Diego engineers designed custom adapters and software to translate the surgeon's natural hand movements into precise robotic actions. Surgeons operate using a virtual reality headset and specialized controls, offering a more intuitive experience than current rigid systems. However, the technology is not without its challenges. Surgie currently requires frequent recalibrations during operations, extending procedure times. Additionally, the latency, or delay, between the surgeon's movement and the robot's response needs to be reduced from hundreds of milliseconds to below 150 milliseconds for optimal performance.

The long-term vision, according to co-author Professor Michael Yip, is for these robots to eventually become autonomous assistants, further expanding the reach and capabilities of remote surgical interventions.

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It costs a fraction of the price and takes up minimal space.