Autonomous robotic laparoscopic surgery for intestinal anastomosis

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Surgical Technology
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Autonomous robotic surgery offers potential for improved efficacy, safety, and consistency.
• Autonomous anastomosis is a complex soft-tissue surgery task requiring advanced imaging, tracking, planning, and control.
• Laparoscopic autonomous surgery presents unique challenges due to maneuverability and vision constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe an enhanced autonomous strategy for laparoscopic soft tissue surgery.
• To demonstrate robotic laparoscopic small bowel anastomosis in phantom and in vivo models.
• To compare the autonomous system's performance against manual and robot-assisted surgery.

Main Methods:

• Development of an enhanced autonomous strategy for robotic laparoscopic surgery.
• Execution of autonomous small bowel anastomosis in phantom and porcine intestinal tissues.
• Comparison of anastomosis quality metrics (needle placement, suture spacing, completion time, leak pressure) between autonomous, manual, and robot-assisted surgery.

Main Results:

• The autonomous system demonstrated superior consistency and accuracy compared to expert manual and robot-assisted surgery in phantom models.
• These performance improvements were replicated in the in vivo porcine model.
• The system successfully performed autonomous robotic laparoscopic intestinal anastomosis over a 1-week survival period.

Conclusions:

• Autonomous surgical robots can significantly improve surgical consistency and patient outcomes.
• The developed enhanced autonomous strategy shows promise for advancing laparoscopic soft tissue surgery.
• Increased autonomy in surgical robots may enhance access to standardized surgical techniques.