In a first-of-its-kind procedure at UC San Diego’s Center for the Future of Surgery, an experienced surgeon tele-operated a humanoid robot to remove the gallbladder in a live pig. A second surgery utilized two humanoid robots working together to perform the same procedure.

Surgical robots have been in use for decades, and some surgeons prefer to use them in specific cases for finer control and precision. These machines, however, can be very expensive, and not every hospital is equipped with them.

The team hopes that by using humanoid robots, they may be able to expand access to robotic surgery to areas that otherwise may not have access.

There’s still a long way to go before these robot surgeons start working on humans. The proof-of-concept study used two Unitree G1 robots, whose arms are shorter than those of the average human surgeon. The robots’ shoulder joints overheated from prolonged use, and the robots themselves could not be properly sterilized to operating room standards.

Future surgical humanoid robots will have to address all these issues, and more, on the road to use with human patients. You can see our hands-on demo with these humanoid robot surgeons and interviews with the research team involved by watching the video in this article.

Jesse Orrall

Senior Video Producer

Jesse Orrall (he/him/his) is a Senior Video Producer for CNET. He covers future tech, sustainability and the social impact of technology. He is co-host of CNET’s “What The Future” series and Executive Producer of “Experts React.” Aside from making videos, he’s a certified SCUBA diver with a passion for music, films, history and ecology.

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