The realm of robotic surgery is taking a significant step forward as humanoid robots make their debut in the operating room. In a groundbreaking demonstration at UC San Diego’s Center for the Future of Surgery, specialized doctors successfully teleoperated humanoid robots to perform live surgical procedures. This milestone opens the door to a future where high-precision medical care could become accessible to patients in remote or underserved locations.

The First-of-its-Kind Procedure

The demonstration featured Unree G1 humanoid robots, adapted specifically for the operating room. In a first-of-its-kind procedure, an experienced surgeon teleoperated a humanoid robot to remove the gallbladder in a live pig. To push the boundaries even further, researchers conducted a second surgery that utilized two humanoid robots working together—one acting as the primary surgeon and the other as the surgical assistant.

Testing the technology on a live specimen was a crucial step for researchers. Live surgeries introduce dynamic variables that training games or non-living tissue cannot replicate, such as the mechanical changes caused by breathing. Because the robot relies heavily on visual information for tracking and port placement, the subtle movements of a breathing patient constantly alter how the robot is positioned relative to its workspace. Additionally, interacting with perfused tissue—tissue with active blood flow—requires a different level of mechanical response.

By the second surgery, the team noticed marked improvements. The speed of the procedure increased, and the frequency of collisions and stoppages decreased.

Why Humanoid Robots?

Surgical robots have been utilized for decades, favored by many surgeons for their ability to deliver finer control and precision. However, traditional surgical robots are notoriously expensive, meaning not every hospital is equipped to offer these advanced procedures.

Furthermore, the global medical system is facing intense pressure. Dr. Broderick, who teleoperated the robots during these surgeries, noted that aging populations are growing at a rate that vastly outpaces the medical community’s ability to train new surgeons. The industry is already operating with a deficit of tens of thousands of surgeons, and that gap is only widening.

The introduction of humanoid robots is not intended to replace human doctors. Instead, the goal is to bring high-precision robotics down to a level of accessibility that can easily integrate into existing workflows. Ultimately, this technology acts as a force multiplier. In the future, a master surgeon could potentially perform significant portions of multiple complex procedures back-to-back from a centralized location, bringing minimally invasive care to regions that currently lack it.

Technical Challenges in the Operating Room

Despite the successful proof of concept, humanoid robots are still in the early stages of medical application and face several unique challenges:

• Size Constraints: The Unree G1 robot is physically comparable to a child, meaning it lacks the arm span and workspace required to reach all target areas comfortably, requiring surgical teams to carefully calculate the best docking placement prior to the operation.
• Overheating: Operating the humanoid robot in this entirely new way causes significant heat buildup. The robot’s shoulder joints frequently overheat and can only sustain about 20 minutes of continuous operation before requiring manual cooling with ice packs.
• Sterilization and Battery Life: Currently, these robots cannot be properly sterilized to the rigorous standards required for surgical tools. Furthermore, their battery life is not yet sufficient to support longer surgical procedures.
• Procedure Time: Even with the improvements seen during the second test, these teleoperated robotic procedures still took longer to complete than an average human surgery of a similar type.

(Note: Following the procedures, the animal models used for these tests did not go into recovery and were euthanized, a practice researchers try to minimize but consider a vital step before moving to human trials).

The Path to Autonomy

While the robots currently rely entirely on teleoperation by human doctors, some level of autonomy is likely in the future. Researchers compare the trajectory of robotic surgery to the evolution of self-driving cars. Just as autonomous driving began with assistive features like anti-lock braking and lane steering to prevent collisions, robotic surgery will likely introduce safety nets first. If a surgeon is navigating near sensitive or challenging anatomy, the robot could autonomously prevent a collision, gradually scaling up to assistive tasks and, eventually, end-to-end autonomous procedures.

For now, the focus remains on refining the hardware and expanding the reach of human expertise. As the technology overcomes current barriers regarding battery life, overheating, and sterilization, humanoid robots like “Sergy” could soon become a vital tool in expanding global access to life-saving medical care.