Teleoperated humanoid robots used to complete two surgeries during preclinical trial

What are the benefits of a humanoid robot in the operating room? 

Indeed, humanoid robots could address one major issue in healthcare: access.

What's next?

Latency – a delay between when the surgeon moves the controller and when the robot moves – is something that is being improved as the team explores longer-distance operations to remote communities.

Michael Yip, faculty member, UC San Diego Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringOne of our goals is to develop the autonomous surgical assistant. Many communities struggle with adequate staffing on the surgical team, which means patients are not being treated. Our goal is an operating theatre of the future, where humanoid robots and humans work side by side as an integrated team to deliver procedures to those in need, both in traditional hospital settings as well as in non-traditional, field medicine scenarios."

"This achievement reflects the power of bringing engineers and surgeon innovators together to solve meaningful clinical problems at our world-class training and research lab," said Ryan Broderick, MD, the interim director of the Center for the Future of Surgery and associate professor of surgery at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. "Our center provides a setting to bridge engineering innovation and clinical expertise, allowing transformative ideas to be rigorously developed, tested, and refined."

Source:

University of California - San Diego

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