A Johns Hopkins University research team has created a robot that can perform laparoscopic surgery on a pig’s soft tissue without a human being’s aid.
The researchers described their latest advance with their Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) in the January 26 issue of Science Robotics.
“Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. The STAR performed the procedure in four animals, and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure,” said senior author Axel Krieger, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins.
Activ Surgical (Boston) has roots in the STAR work back in 2016, though Activ’s founder Dr. Peter Kim has since moved on. Activ Surgical’s present focus is on its ActivEdge surgical intelligence software.
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