Remote robotic surgery

Robots could operate on humans, without a doctor, in remote locations.

Duke University engineers in the US believe that the preliminary results of their rudimentary tabletop robot represent the first concrete steps towards autonomous robot surgeries in remote locations, such as in space or on the battlefield.

In the shorter term, however, the engineers say that the technology could make certain medical procedures safer for patients.

The tabletop robot ‘eyes’ use a 3D ultrasound technology developed in Duke laboratories and an artificial intelligence program that functions as its brain. The ‘brain’ takes the real-time 3D information and process it, giving the robot specific commands to perform.

“In a number of tasks, the computer was able to direct the robot's actions,” said Stephen Smith, director of the Duke University Ultrasound Transducer Group and senior member of the research team. “We believe that this is the first proof-of-concept for this approach. Given that we achieved these early results with a rudimentary robot and a basic artificial intelligence program, the technology will advance to the point where robots – without the guidance of the doctor – can someday operate on people.”

Simulated needle biopsy

A series of experiments on the robotic system was published online in the journal IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control. In a separate study published earlier this year in April, the researchers demonstrated that the autonomous robot system could successfully perform a simulated needle biopsy.

“The robot was able to accurately direct needle probes to target needles based on the information sent by the catheter transducer,” said John Whitman, a senior engineering student and first author on both papers. “The ability of the robot to guide a probe within a vascular graft is a first step toward further testing the system in animal models.”

The researchers said that adding this 3D capability to more powerful and sophisticated surgical robots already in use at many hospitals could hasten the development of autonomous robots that could perform complex procedures on humans.

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