Insights on the Future of Autonomous Surgery

AI Surgeon Performs First Fully Autonomous Procedure - No Human Hands Required >> 🤖A Johns Hopkins-led team has achieved a world first, an AI-controlled robot autonomously performed gallbladder removal with 100% success across eight trials, without any human intervention 🤖 The robot, named SRT-H, was trained on surgical videos using imitation learning and guided only by voice prompts, then made its own decisions in real time, adapting to unexpected anatomical variations and environmental changes 🤖 The operation involved 17 precise steps including identifying arteries and ducts, placing clips, and cutting tissue, tasks the robot executed with consistency and mechanical precision on lifelike models (yes not yet on real humans) 🤖 Built on the same machine learning architecture that powers ChatGPT, importantly SRT-H didn’t just mimic moves, it understood the procedure and adjusted when things didn’t go to plan 🤖 The breakthrough moves robotic surgery from task automation to full procedural autonomy, offering a glimpse of a future where AI surgeons could handle simple soft-tissue surgeries with minimal supervision 🤖 While slower than human surgeons today, SRT-H plotted more efficient movements and corrected itself up to six times per procedure, potentially offering fewer errors and less tissue trauma over time 💬 Once this moves into real humans, there will be new challenges. Live patients breathe, bleed, and move , so real-world safety will demand further testing and training. But it offers an exciting view of the future #digitalhealth #ai

🧠🔪 “Are we witnessing the birth of autonomous surgery?” Just days ago, Johns Hopkins unveiled a groundbreaking achievement: a robot that autonomously performed a complete gallbladder removal on an anatomically accurate human model. No joystick. No surgeon’s hands. Just algorithms, sensors, and 17 flawlessly executed surgical steps. This isn't science fiction—it’s happening now. And it raises a powerful question: 👉 Is this the beginning of a new era in surgery, where robots not only assist, but operate? The implications are enormous: 🌍 Access to care in remote regions 🎯 Ultra-precise outcomes with fewer complications 👨⚕️ Surgeons as supervisors, not operators But so are the challenges: ⚖️ Ethical dilemmas 🛡️ Liability and cybersecurity 🧬 Human trust in machines As someone deeply involved in robotic and telesurgery, I see both the excitement and the responsibility this shift brings. We're not replacing surgeons, we’re expanding their reach, refining their tools, and reimagining what’s possible. What do you think? 📉 Too soon? 📈 Long overdue? Any thoughts??🤔🤔🤔🤔 https://lnkd.in/g_qmgScF #RoboticSurgery #AIinHealthcare #Telesurgery #Innovation #FutureOfMedicine #SurgicalRobotics #DigitalHealth #JohnsHopkins #SurgeryReimagined

I asked a world-renowned surgeon what he thought would be possible in AI x surgery in our lifetimes. Without hesitation, he said "it's conceivable – in a not too distant future – that we will have fully autonomous robotic surgeries, and we should. Ultimately, it will be harder to create the regulatory apparatus supporting autonomous surgery than the technology itself." Near-term, he said that "lane-assist" technology was coming to the OR. Giving surgeons utilizing robotics (such as Intuitive's DaVinci) supportive tools like warnings when cutting close to a critical anatomical structure (detected by computer vision) or preventing the device from cutting critical structures altogether (akin to "auto-brake"). Long-term, every hospital will have access to surgical robotics. I'm optimistic that we can realize the potential of a distributed fleet of surgical assistants –revisiting concepts like telesurgery, or the notion that surgeons can operate on a patient thousands of miles away, and real-time case collaboration among surgeons across institutions. This future state of surgical robotics is one of the greatest examples of how technology can scale clinical expertise to increase access to world class care for patients – especially in rural, low resource, or critical access settings... and even in space! #healthcare #artificialintelligence #ai #generativeai #robotics #surgery