Advances in artificial intelligence are bringing the possibility of autonomous robotic surgery closer every day, according to a panel of Johns Hopkins University robotics experts.
In a recent virtual briefing for journalists, “What Every Reporter Should Know About AI: The Latest in Robotic Surgery,” researchers from the Whiting School of Engineering explored the fast-changing field of robotic surgery, exploring in particular how AI is being used to enhance robotic capabilities. The session launched a new monthly series on AI organized by the university’s Office of Communications.
“When we’re dealing with surgical robots, we really are dealing with complementary capabilities,” said medical robotics pioneer Russell Taylor, a John C. Malone Professor of Computer Science. “We have some common capabilities, but machines are good at things that we are maybe less good at, and the other way around. What we want our partnership to achieve is the best of both worlds.”
Taylor said the current paradigm in research is for physicians to use their expertise to inform the robot about the surgical plan, and then have the robot perform it precisely while following safety protocols.
“It’s like power steering in a car,” Taylor said. “The [human] surgeon and the robot both have the tool, but the robot is following the hand of the human.”
“The introduction of autonomous technology will result in changes that will affect pretty much everybody in the health care spectrum,” added Mathias Unberath, a John C. Malone Associate Professor of Computer Science. “It’s not simply about how we can build and enable the technology that is autonomous and can achieve and perform at the level that we need in order to make patients healthier. We also need to think about how the introduction of this type of technology changes the overall ecosystem that is health care.”