Humanoid Robots Perform World-First Surgeries Without Doctors Present in Medical Breakthrough

A pair of humanoid robots have successfully removed gallbladders from living pigs for the first time, marking a significant milestone in surgical robotics that researchers say could reshape access to medical care around the world. The findings were published July 8 in the journal Nature, with the procedures carried out by engineers and surgeons at the University of California San Diego.The robots — nicknamed “Surgie” by the research team — are based on the Unitree G1, a general-purpose humanoid standing approximately five feet tall and weighing just 60 pounds. Unlike the specialized surgical systems already in use at hospitals, Surgie features a head and arms and occupies a fraction of the space required by conventional robotic surgery equipment.Two separate laparoscopic procedures were conducted during the preclinical trial. In the first, a humanoid robot led the gallbladder removal with a human surgeon assisting at the bedside. In the second, two robots completed the procedure together, with no human surgeon physically present in the operating room.“As a proof of concept, it absolutely worked,” the interim director of the Center for the Future of Surgery at UC San Diego, Dr. Ryan Broderick, told ABC News.The robots were teleoperated — meaning skilled human surgeons remotely controlled their movements using a console equipped with a stereo headset display and foot pedals. The research team also built custom physical adapters so Surgie could grip standard surgical instruments and developed software to translate natural hand movements into precise tool control.Despite the milestone, the team acknowledged several limitations. The procedures took significantly longer than those performed by human surgeons or existing robotic systems, requiring multiple pauses to recalibrate and reposition the robots. During the second operation, there was mild bile leakage and minor bleeding, both of which were resolved without serious complications.Current teleoperated humanoid robots also exhibit latency in the hundreds of milliseconds — higher than the sub-150-millisecond threshold considered ideal for remote surgery. Researchers say continued development is needed before the technology is ready for human trials.Still, the potential applications have generated considerable excitement. Because the Unitree G1 is a fraction of the cost of specialized systems like the da Vinci Surgical Robot — which can run anywhere from half a million to several million dollars — Surgie could feasibly be deployed in settings where traditional surgical infrastructure is impractical.“You can imagine this device being deployed on a ship, in a village somewhere, in a smaller operating environment that’s not in major cities,” a colorectal surgeon at UC San Diego, Dr. Shanglei Liu, told ABC News. “And it opens up, I think, a lot of doors for access.”The team also envisions the technology helping ease staffing pressures in hospitals. a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego and senior author of the paper, Michael Yip, sees broader implications for global health care equity.“Remotely operated and autonomous humanoid robots have real potential for amplifying access to critical surgeries to which patients would otherwise not have access,” Mr. Yip told UC San Diego Today. “This can help address the health care crisis not only in the United States but also worldwide.”

Humanoid Robots Perform World-First Surgeries Without Doctors Present in Medical Breakthrough

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