Source: The Next Web
A team at Stanford successfully demonstrated that humanoid robots can perform a complex surgical task—removing a kidney from a living pig—marking the first time such dexterous, autonomous manipulation has been achieved on a living subject. Surgical robotics have historically been tele-operated systems (like da Vinci) requiring human surgeons to control every movement. Autonomous systems in high-stakes medical contexts change where human expertise needs to be present and create potential for surgery in resource-constrained settings, though significant gaps remain between a controlled lab procedure and clinical viability.