Surgical robot removes gallbladder without any human assistance

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed an advanced surgical robot, SRT-H (Hierarchical Surgical Robot Transformer), that autonomously performed a complete 17-step gallbladder removal procedure on a realistic anatomical model without any human intervention. Unlike previous surgical robots, which operated under rigid, pre-marked conditions, SRT-H demonstrated expert-level adaptability by responding to unpredictable anatomical variations, complications, and voice commands, much like a human surgical trainee. This marks a significant milestone in surgical robotics, shifting from tool-assisted precision to intelligent, interactive execution capable of real-time adjustments during surgery. The robot was trained using videos of gallbladder surgeries on pig cadavers, learning through a combination of visual data and spoken feedback, similar to how a junior doctor is trained. Built on machine learning architecture akin to ChatGPT, SRT-H achieved 100% accuracy across multiple tests, even when faced with altered tissue appearance and randomized starting positions. This breakthrough suggests a future where autonomous surgical systems can handle the complexities and unpredict