Robots Performing Surgery
The first surgery I ever witnessed was being performed by a robot 🤖
It took me a minute to find the surgeon in the room. He was sitting in the corner with his back to me. His forehead leaned on a concave console, and his arms rested just forward of his chest. His thumbs and forefingers of both hands were put through rings, and his wrists and hands moved in the air as if conducting a small orchestra. His shoes were placed off to the side, and his socked feet worked pedals below.
In the middle of the room, was the patient. Draped in blue sterile sheets, he was nothing but a lump with a square of skin the size of a medium pizza box exposed. Spread out above him were four robotic arms attached to a large white column and square base. The arms led to ports in his abdomen, the tip of the arms disappearing inside. Like a praying mantis investigating a meal, the arms moved at varying angles.
The shock of it all made a bubble of laughter escape my lips beneath my mask. Now, almost a decade later, I am still awed by rapidly advancing technology in surgery.
At times, the arguments I read about AI in writing seem trivial compared to those I hear regarding AI in surgery. Should surgeons be able to operate from hundreds of miles away? From across the globe? Are we advancing to an era where the surgeon isn’t directly involved in surgery?