Artificial intelligence used to perform surgery

Posted On May 17, 2016 Medical Malpractice by John Allen Phebus

Robots now do many of the jobs that were once done by human beings in Arizona. Usually performing repetitive tasks, robots are used in vehicle manufacturing and the production of electronics. With new developments in artificial intelligence, robots are now able to compute data in order to make decisions. Autonomous cars are one of the most well known applications of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence may soon be used for tasks even more serious than driving. Surgeons at the Children’s National Medical Center in the District of Columbia have been studying how to use an autonomous robot for soft-tissue surgery. The researchers demonstrated in their study how a supervised autonomous robot could perform open surgery on a pig’s bowel. According to the researchers, the robot was able to stitch the pig’s bowel with more accuracy than a human surgeon was capable of.

The project leader of the Smart-Tissue Autonomous Robot said that robot surgeons are not meant to replace human surgeons. He believes that robot surgeons will help human surgeons do a better job and ensure that every patient has access to the best care during surgery. The STAR robot uses imaging to decide where to place sutures in tissue and then uses its robotic arm and surgical tools to precisely place the sutures.

If a surgeon makes a mistake during an operation, the patient may experience a very bad outcome. In many cases, such a patient does not find out about the harm until later. A surgical error could include a sponge being left inside a patient’s body, for example, which is not noticed until stomach complications or pain ensues at a future date. People who have been harmed by such a mistake may want to obtain the advice of a lawyer regarding the steps that need to be taken for seeking compensation from the negligent practitioner or hospital.

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This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, John Allen Phebus who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury attorney.