UC San Diego Guides $20,000 Humanoid Robots Through 2 Pig Gallbladder Surgeries
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 14
UC San Diego Guides $20,000 Humanoid Robots Through 2 Pig Gallbladder Surgeries
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 14
Summary
$20,000 humanoid robots completed two remote gallbladder removals on pigs in a UC San Diego preclinical trial, with surgeons controlling every movement rather than letting the machines make medical decisions.
The five-foot robots used standard laparoscopic tools in a normal operating room, testing whether general-purpose humanoids could perform surgery without the bulky, fixed infrastructure of conventional systems.
Researchers said the setup could eventually extend specialist care to rural clinics, field hospitals or other hard-to-reach sites, potentially at far lower cost than surgical robots that can run from $700,000 to over $3 million.
The trial also exposed hurdles before any human use: repeated recalibration, slower procedures, latency risks and the need for backup surgical teams if the robot or remote connection fails.
Published in Nature, the work marks an early proof of concept for teleoperated humanoid surgery, while leaving broader questions about reliability, cybersecurity and future autonomy unresolved.
Can $20,000 humanoid robots truly democratize surgery, or will hidden infrastructure costs keep them out of reach for remote communities?
With autonomous robots already outperforming surgeons in some tasks, how long until they replace humans in the operating room entirely?
When an AI-assisted robot makes a mistake during surgery, who is ultimately held responsible: the surgeon, the hospital, or the developer?
World-First: Teleoperated Humanoid Robots Successfully Perform Live Gallbladder Surgery on Pigs, Paving the Way for Global Surgical Access
Overview
In a world-first achievement, teleoperated Unitree G1 humanoid robots, known as 'Surgie,' performed two laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgeries on live pigs at UC San Diego. This milestone marks the beginning of integrating humanoid robots into operating rooms, where they are first expected to assist and later perform surgeries under human teleoperation. The procedures were fully controlled by surgeons, highlighting that the robots acted as precise extensions of human expertise rather than autonomous agents. This breakthrough underscores the importance of human oversight and sets the stage for future advancements in robotic-assisted surgery.