Automated Robot Can Beat Surgeon at Stitching

Researchers at Children's National Health System in Washington, DC, have taught a robot how to perform delicate suturing better than a human surgeon. MIT Technology Review reports that the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot stitched a live pig's intestine together with a needle and thread, using an advanced 3-D imaging system and "very precise force sensing to apply stitches with submillimeter precision." The automated system outperformed its inventors at Children's National, who designed it to copy state-of-the art surgical practice. A report on the research appeared in Science Translational Medicine. 

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[Image courtesy of Children's National Health System in Washington, DC]