Every day, Anicet Mbida makes us discover an innovation that could well change the way we consume.
This Monday, he dwells on the arrival of new robot-surgeons capable of performing complete operations without being directed by a professional.
The innovation of the day is the automation that arrives in the operating room.
We are starting to see robots appear that perform operations completely independently.
Without being assisted by any doctor ...
"It's a colossal change. Today, surgeons already rely on robots to help them during operations. They allow them to make a small hole in your stomach and pass microscopic instruments through it, to then perform the surgery through a screen. But it is always the hand of the doctor who controls and the arm of the robot who performs. Now, there are robots capable of operating on their own. You are put on the pool table and that. is the machine that manages.
What type of operations is it for?
For the moment, only a few very specific and fairly benign interventions, such as to treat an enlarged prostate.
The robot will go through the urinary tube and remove a small piece (Procept Biorobotics).
There is also the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) which alone performs all the sutures after a colon operation.
And others, able to take your blood, put a catheter on you and even give you a PCR test.
It is therefore the robot that pushes the long swab down to your brain.
What if there is a bug?
In principle, this should be thoroughly tested.
But you are right, it is above all a question of trust.
The advantage of the robot?
We are sure that each time, the operation will be done in the same way with the same level of quality.
So we erase human errors and the differences between surgeons.
The patients still have to accept being crushed by a machine. "