This robot surgeon could revolutionize operations

A prototype already has the dexterity and skill to outperform human doctors

This robotic surgical system could be more accurate than human surgeons.
(Image credit: ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

Who's the ideal surgeon? Someone savvy; someone skilled. Someone efficient and dexterous. To most people, that job description sounds like one for the most educated, well-trained medical professionals. But to Peter Kim, a general and thoracic surgeon, that job description sounds ideal for someone — or something — else: a robot.

Kim is among the researchers who have created what they call STAR (Supervised Autonomic Robot). It's a robot that can do everything a human surgeon can, only better. And unlike its mechanized predecessors, it can operate on soft tissue within the body.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Erin Blakemore

Erin Blakemore is a journalist from Boulder, Colorado. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Time, Smithsonian.com, mental_floss, Popular Science and more.