Robots help surgeons but challenge control and teamwork in hospitals
Live Forever Club - 07-Jul-2025While promising better care, robots may limit access and shift team dynamics
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We’re a long way from robots automating surgery as much as they automate other industries such as manufacturing. However, there is a clear path to this futuristic end:
The end result may appear challenging, but each step feeds into the next – providing data for future AI systems to learn from.
Although, currently, there may not be a cost-benefit to using robotic systems, as with all technology the prices will come down. And as we progress to the later stages of automation then the savings (e.g. of training surgeons whose skills are lost when they retire) will make most operations affordable to all.
Although to the patient an operation may be a life changing experience, some procedures are very much routine and performed by a surgeon many times each day. The less unique patient-unique parts of these operations are already the target of new companies – for example, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) uses 3D infra-red imaging to outperform experts making surgical incisions, resulting in less damage to the surrounding tissue, and can also accurately sew a wound back up.
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While promising better care, robots may limit access and shift team dynamics
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