Humanoid Robots Have Entered the Operating Room

A peer-reviewed Nature study has taken general-purpose humanoid robotics into a striking new setting: live porcine surgery. Human surgeons remotely controlled humanoid robots to complete two laparoscopic cholecystectomies using standard wristed instruments. One procedure involved two humanoids working together.

The milestone is embodied telepresence, not autonomous surgery. Every movement was controlled by a surgeon. In dry-laboratory testing, the humanoid system outperformed manual operation on some measures but remained notably slower and less accurate than the mature da Vinci Xi platform.

Important limitations remain, including latency, motion error, restricted reach, recalibration and repositioning during procedures. With only two animal operations, the study demonstrates technical feasibility—not safety in humans, clinical effectiveness, superiority or readiness for patient care.