Health

Robot Performs Surgery Autonomously With 100% Success Rate

JUL 11 2025·Updated JUL 13 2025

Story

Above: Johns Hopkins University's SMART robot. Image credit: Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

The Facts

Johns Hopkins University researchers have developed a surgical robot called SRT-H that successfully performed gallbladder removal procedures on pig cadavers with 100% accuracy across eight trials, completing 17 complex surgical tasks — including identifying ducts and arteries, placing clips, and cutting tissue with scissors.
Fierce Biotech
The Hub
Science
According to their study published in the journal Science Robotics, the robot was trained using videos of human surgeons performing gallbladder removals — with captions describing each task — and utilized the same machine learning architecture that powers ChatGPT to respond to voice commands and learn from feedback in real-time during operations.
New Atlas
Sky News
Fierce Biotech
Unlike previous surgical robots that required specially marked tissue and predetermined surgical plans, SRT-H adapted to anatomical variations and unexpected scenarios, including changes in starting position and blood-like dyes that altered tissue appearance.
Independent
CTVNews
The robot took approximately five minutes and 17 seconds to complete the procedure compared to four minutes for human surgeons but demonstrated movements that were smoother and more precise than human operators while maintaining expert-level surgical performance.
Daily Mail
New Scientist
CTVNews
The federally funded research is an advancement from the team's previous 2022 STAR robot, which performed the first autonomous surgery on a live pig but required highly controlled conditions and rigid, predetermined plans.
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Interesting Engineering
Researchers plan to expand the system's capabilities to perform complete autonomous surgeries and test it on live animals, where breathing and bleeding could complicate the surgery.
Daily Mail
Fierce Biotech
New Scientist

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The Spin

Techno-optimist narrative

This is a revolutionary leap toward safer, more accessible healthcare. This robot's 100% success rate and ability to adapt to real-world surgical complications demonstrate that AI can match expert human performance, reduce surgical errors, and expand access to quality care in underserved areas.

New Atlas

The Hub

Techno-skeptic narrative

While impressive, significant safety concerns remain before human trials can begin. The robot required self-correction six times per case and needed human intervention to change instruments, raising questions about reliability in life-threatening situations where split-second decisions matter most.

Daily Mail