On October 22 last year, New York University Langone successfully performed the world's first robotic double lung transplant.
According to Yahoo News, researchers from John Hopkins University and Stanford University trained the da Vinci Xi Surgical System robot to prepare for surgery.
As a result, their method demonstrates a new way to streamline the training of surgical robots and represents an important milestone in robotic medicine.
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How did the researchers train the robot?
The researchers trained the surgical bot in three basic movements: suturing, lifting tissue, and handling needles.
We also created a training model for the robot by combining kinematics data with a sophisticated language model.
In other words, they integrated AI models with data that mathematically describes the robot's movements, allowing da Vinci to learn.
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I watched the surgery video on a wrist-mounted camera. Additionally, the researchers overcame the bot's input accuracy by focusing on relative movements rather than exact movements.
This adjustment improves accuracy and adaptability, allowing the bot to operate in new environments and tasks.
For example, needles dropped during surgery can be retrieved.
Once ready, Dr. Stephanie H. Chan and her team used it to perform Cheryl Meaker's lung transplant on October 22, 2024.
Dr. Chang is the Surgeon General of the Lung Transplant Program at New York University Langone Transplant Institute.
NYU Langone's website reports that she and her team used the da Vinci Xi robot during each step of the procedure.
They made a small incision between the ribs. A robot was then used to remove the lung and prepare the surgical site for transplantation.
Both lungs were then transplanted using robotic technology.
Read: Saudi Arabia performs first-ever robotic heart surgery
A 57-year-old woman with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) thanked NYU Langone Health for her successful surgery.
“I'm so grateful to the doctors and nurses here for giving me hope,” Meakar said.
Dr. Chan congratulated the success of the robotic lung transplant.
“By using these robotic systems, we aim to reduce the impact of this major surgery on patients, minimize post-operative pain and provide patients with the best possible outcomes. ”
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“That couldn't happen here without a talented group of surgeons and a facility dedicated to advancing transplantation.”
