AI-guided cameras make solo surgery possible in step towards surgical automation

Ricardo Funke, the chief of surgery at Clinica Las Condes in Santiago, Chile, had a new assistant during a laparoscopic surgery on Monday – an autonomous artificial intelligence-guided camera that allowed him to carry out a gallbladder removal alone.

The procedure combined magnetic surgical instruments with software that autonomously directs the surgical camera, tracking the surgeon’s tools and adjusting angles without a human assistant.

“The camera was following me wherever I moved my hands and the whole process was excellent,” Funke told Reuters…