BEIJING: A state-of-the-art robotic system created by a Chinese firm has successfully carried out biliary surgery on a 30-kilogram pig, entirely driven by artificial intelligence, with no direct human input during the procedure.
The operation took place on December 24th and was performed by a surgical robot designed by a Shanghai-based company. This robot is equipped with an advanced neural multi-modal AI model specifically developed for surgical tasks.
The company claims that the robot independently managed the critical phases of the operation. It accomplished approximately 88% of the surgery on its first try, and during the subsequent stages, it swiftly adapted its approach, making necessary adjustments to complete the procedure successfully.
According to the firm, the core of the robot’s intelligence is a Neural AI system, trained on 3 billion parameters, which includes 23,000 surgical video clips. This extensive training enables the robot to replicate decision-making processes similar to experienced surgeons and to formulate strategies during surgery based on live images and the status of surgical tools.
This trial is being hailed as the first-ever instance of a fully autonomous robotic surgery performed under human oversight and remotely operated, representing a major step toward the development of fully independent robotic surgical systems.
Nevertheless, the company clarified that human surgeons monitored the procedure and could intervene at any moment. They also emphasized that this demonstration does not serve as conclusive evidence of the technology’s safety or effectiveness for human surgeries, and it is not yet ready for immediate clinical application.
