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Would you let robots perform surgery on you? What if we said they learned how to do it by watching videos? Would that make you feel more comfortable?
Because that is exactly how some artificial intelligence-based robots are being trained to perform surgery. They are now being taught by watching videos of human-controlled robotic arms performing surgical tasks on practice suture pads. What could possibly go wrong?
Actually, according to a new report by the Washington Post, even when something does actually go wrong, these surgical robots have learned how to fix their own mistakes without being told to do so.
The robots learned to manipulate needles, tie knots and suture wounds on their own. Moreover, the trained robots went beyond mere imitation, correcting their own slip-ups without being told ― for example, picking up a dropped needle. Scientists have already begun the next stage of work: combining all of the different skills in full surgeries performed on animal cadavers.
It is hoped that these autonomous surgical robots will help address a serious shortage of surgeons in the United States. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, 10,000 to 20,000 more surgeons will be needed by the year 2036.
Research on these autonomous surgical robots was recently presented at the recent Conference on Robot Learning in Munich
“In our work, we’re not trying to replace the surgeon. We just want to make things easier for the surgeon,” said Axel Krieger, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, who supervised the research. “Imagine, do you want a tired surgeon, where you’re the last patient of the day, and the surgeon is super-exhausted? Or do you want a robot that is doing a part of that surgery and really helping out the surgeon?”
Robots helping out in surgery also isn’t as new or as rare as many might think. In 2020, the were a reported 876,000 or so robot-assisted surgeries in the United States.
That being said, there is still much to work out.
“If a blunder occurs, who holds responsibility?” Amer Zureikat, director of robotic surgery at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, asked. “Is it the doctor? Is it the AI developer? Is it the hospital facility? Is it the robot manufacturer?”
Zureikat, who was not involved in the study, also wants to know if all patients will get equal access to the technology. Another question Zureikat raised was whether using these robots will cause surgeons to rely so much on them that they become less adept at performing surgery on their own without the robots.