Robot STAR Performs World’s First Autonomous Soft-Tissue Surgery

A robot named STAR, or Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, has just performed the first soft tissue, autonomous surgery in the world. With its hydraulic arm and large camera eye, the surgical robot meticulously scans the sticky, soft intestinal tissue and carefully stitches with precise surgical procedure.

The medical robot is a product of development by a group of medical researchers and computer scientists headed by Peter Kim, who is a biochemist at the Children's National Health System. STAR performed a number of surgical procedures under the team's supervision, including intestinal anatomosis,  wherein it stitched up two ruptured segments of the bowel intestine of living pigs that were given anesthesia, Stat News reported.

The robot's current surgical performance is "teleoperated", which means STAR's movements are directed by surgeons, according to the team's robotic expert Axel Krieger. The scientist stated that their innovation is aimed at making the robot become more autonomous. Although humans remain to play important roles of assisting the robot while performing surgeries to ensure that the suture thread did not get tangled, STAR adhered to its own operation algorithm, choosing when and where to poke the needle. In terms of speed, the researchers have no issues, as they can make the robot work faster, although Krieger said that they decided not to run it faster because they were focusing on the surgical results.

STAR's suturing tool is articulated with hinged with 7 degrees of freedom while its mechanical precision relies on the programming. The robot's surgical performance is a breakthrough in the field of robotic imaging technology, as its mechanical eye takes the images in an almost-infrared fluorescent light, like the night vision technology being used by the military. This  mechanical tool serves as the robot's guide through the shifting and confusing mess of soft tissue.

Robot STAR is a proof that the entire range of soft tissue operations can be turned over to autonomous robots that can possibly perform better surgical procedures than doctors, according to NBC News.