Humanoid Robot Performs Pig Gallbladder Surgery via Teleoperation
Ars Technica AI · rss · 2026-07-10
Researchers successfully directed a humanoid robot under the control of remote surgeons to perform two minimally invasive gallbladder removals on a live pig. This preclinical trial, published in Nature, was not autonomous surgery but rather human surgeons teleoperating a robot.
The article notes that if such solutions enter clinical practice, they could make robot-assisted surgery affordable for small hospitals and primary clinics, as these humanoid robots are considered to:
- Have a smaller footprint;
- Cost significantly less than traditional specialized surgical robots;
- Be easier to deploy in rural, battlefield, or even space environments.
This is viewed as a major milestone in human-machine collaborative surgery.
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