We need surgical robots to make it very fast, cheap, and highly reliable to replace aging organs with new organs grown in vats outside the body. Automation is key to higher quality and lower error rates. With that thought in mind, some Duke researchers are developing autonomous surgical robots.
DURHAM, N.C. -- As physician-guided robots routinely operate on patients at most major hospitals, the next generation robot could eliminate a surprising element from that scenario -- the doctor.
Feasibility studies conducted by Duke University bioengineers have demonstrated that a robot -- without any human assistance -- can locate a man-made, or phantom, lesion in simulated human organs, guide a device to the lesion and take multiple samples during a single session. The researchers believe that as the technology is further developed, autonomous robots could some day perform many more simple surgical tasks.
"Earlier this year we demonstrated that a robot directed by artificial intelligence can on its own locate simulated calcifications and cysts in simulated breast tissue with high repeatability and accuracy," said Kaicheng Liang, a former student in the laboratory of Stephen Smith, director of the Duke University Ultrasound Transducer Group at the Pratt School of Engineering and senior member of the research team. "Now we have shown that the robot can sample up to eight different spots in simulated human prostate tissue."
Automation is needed in order to achieve the highest quality. So robotic surgeons don't just hold out the hope of lower costs. They'll also make fewer errors. The best human hand skilled at guiding a blade will inevitably be surpassed by a computer-controlled high precision device.
Using a robotic assistant to remove a patient's gallbladder by key-hole surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) is as safe as working with a human assistant, a Cochrane Review has concluded. Comparisons between robot- and human-assisted surgery showed that there were no differences in terms of morbidity, the need to switch to open surgery, total operating time, or length of stay in hospital.
Between 10 and 15% of the adult western population develop gallstones, placing a huge demand on health services. In the USA alone, more than 500,000 people have their gall bladder removed each year. The preferred way of doing this is now to use keyhole surgery that involves a surgeon and an assistant. In key-hole surgery, the surgeon sees inside the patient via a long camera introduced through a 1 cm abdominal cut. The camera guides the surgeon in using the surgical instruments introduced through other small cuts (ranging from 0.5 to 1 cm). The assistant's job is to move the camera, which acts as the surgeon's eyes.
You just know where this is heading: Some day human surgeons will become viewed as too risky and inefficient and expensive. For reasons of cost and safety complete surgeries will be performed by automated equipment. Look at Lasik and other similar techniques for treating eye problems. The operator of the equipment is not doing anywhere near as much as the equipment does.
Robots will be able to operate more quickly and cheaply. This will be important when we want to check into a hospital to have most of our aged abdominal organs replaced by youthful organs fresh out of organ growth vats. I hope we get a lot of benefit from our robotic servants before they revolt and wipe us out.