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Robots may someday operate without doctors


Published: May 8, 2008 at 1:59 PM
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DURHAM, N.C., May 8 (UPI) -- U.S. engineers say the world is moving closer to the day when robots will perform surgery with minimal or no guidance from a doctor.

Duke University researchers say their feasibility studies may represent the first concrete steps toward achieving such a space age vision of the future.

For their experiments, the engineers used a rudimentary tabletop robot whose "eyes" used a 3-D ultrasound technology. An artificial intelligence program served as the robot's "brain," taking real-time 3-D information, processing it and giving the robot commands to perform.

"In a number of tasks, the computer was able to direct the robot's actions," said Stephen Smith, director of the university's Ultrasound Transducer Group. "We believe this is the first proof-of-concept for this approach.

"Given that we achieved these early results with a rudimentary robot and a basic artificial intelligence program, the technology will advance to the point where robots -- without the guidance of the doctor -- can someday operate on people."

The research appears online in the journal IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control. A second study, published in the April issue of the journal Ultrasonic Imaging, demonstrated the robot could successfully perform a simulated needle biopsy.

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In this image from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft, Cyclone Nargis is pictured when it was a Category one hurricane located 370 miles west of Yangon, Myanmar on May 1, 2008. Tropical Cyclone Nargis flooded the region on May 4, 2008. The death toll from the cyclone and its aftermath is feared to hit or exceed 100,000 lives. (UPI Photo/NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team)
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