Experimental Surgical Robot Performs Gallbladder Procedure Autonomously
Existing surgical robots are remotely controlled by surgeons. The new system uses artificial intelligence to make independent decisions and adapts to unexpected complications during operations, said Axel Krieger of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who led the research.
He likened it to an autonomous vehicle that can 'navigate any road, in any condition, responding intelligently to whatever it encounters.'
'This advancement moves us from robots that can execute specific surgical tasks to ones that truly understand surgical procedures,' he said.
The SRT-H robot was trained via an AI framework known as language-guided imitation learning, using videos of surgeons performing gallbladder removal surgeries on pig cadavers, the researchers reported in Science Robotics.
The robot was tested on eight varying sets of pig gallbladders and livers that had been removed from the animals.
Separating the gallbladder from the liver takes several minutes and involves 'diverse tool use, including grabbing, clipping, and cutting — skills common in real surgical procedures,' along with decision-making and adaptation, the researchers said.
The pig organs and blood vessels in the tests varied widely in appearance and anatomy, 'mirroring the diversity encountered in human surgeries,' they said.
While the robot achieved 100% accuracy in the surgeries, it took longer to perform the work than a human surgeon.
Commercially available surgical robots include Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System, which has been used in over 12 million procedures globally since receiving FDA approval in 2000.
Unlike SRT-H, the da Vinci system relies entirely on human surgeons to control its movements remotely.
The global surgical robotics market is approaching $10 billion annually with about 2.7 million robotic procedures performed in 2024, Baird analyst David Rescott estimated.
Eventually, autonomous surgical robots could help address surgeon shortages, minimize human error and provide consistent, high-quality care in underserved regions, the researchers said.
The research was supported by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
18-07-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Experimental Surgical Robot Performs Gallbladder Procedure Autonomously
An experimental AI-guided robot can autonomously perform a delicate, complicated phase of a common gallbladder operation, marking a major step toward automated medical procedures, researchers said on July 9. Existing surgical robots are remotely controlled by surgeons. The new system uses artificial intelligence to make independent decisions and adapts to unexpected complications during operations, said Axel Krieger of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who led the research. He likened it to an autonomous vehicle that can 'navigate any road, in any condition, responding intelligently to whatever it encounters.' 'This advancement moves us from robots that can execute specific surgical tasks to ones that truly understand surgical procedures,' he said. The SRT-H robot was trained via an AI framework known as language-guided imitation learning, using videos of surgeons performing gallbladder removal surgeries on pig cadavers, the researchers reported in Science Robotics. The robot was tested on eight varying sets of pig gallbladders and livers that had been removed from the animals. Separating the gallbladder from the liver takes several minutes and involves 'diverse tool use, including grabbing, clipping, and cutting — skills common in real surgical procedures,' along with decision-making and adaptation, the researchers said. The pig organs and blood vessels in the tests varied widely in appearance and anatomy, 'mirroring the diversity encountered in human surgeries,' they said. While the robot achieved 100% accuracy in the surgeries, it took longer to perform the work than a human surgeon. Commercially available surgical robots include Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System, which has been used in over 12 million procedures globally since receiving FDA approval in 2000. Unlike SRT-H, the da Vinci system relies entirely on human surgeons to control its movements remotely. The global surgical robotics market is approaching $10 billion annually with about 2.7 million robotic procedures performed in 2024, Baird analyst David Rescott estimated. Eventually, autonomous surgical robots could help address surgeon shortages, minimize human error and provide consistent, high-quality care in underserved regions, the researchers said. The research was supported by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Japan Today
14-07-2025
- Japan Today
U.S. ice cream makers to scoop out synthetic dyes under RFK Jr. push
(L/R) Food and Drug Administration Commissioner (FDA) Martin Makary and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., eat ice cream at the end of a news conference at the USDA headquarters building in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2025 By Issam AHMED Major U.S. ice cream makers on Monday announced plans to phase out their use of artificial dyes following pressure from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr to eliminate unnecessary additives from the American diet. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), which includes over 40 top ice cream brands, said its members would stop using petroleum-derived synthetic colorings by the end of 2027. These chemicals have been linked in studies to conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cancer, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, and genomic disruption, yet serve no nutritional or functional purpose beyond cosmetic coloring, health advocates have long argued. "I'm particularly happy to be here today because this is relevant to my favorite food, which is ice cream," Kennedy said at a press event, lauding the dairy industry for its actions. "This is a great day for dairy and it's a great day for Make America Healthy Again," added the IDFA's President and CEO Michael Dykes, referencing Kennedy's MAHA slogan that is a play on President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" or MAGA. Andy Jacobs, CEO of Turkey Hill, said many commercial ice cream manufacturers had already phased out artificial colors or were in the process of doing so. "By taking this step now, ice cream manufacturers are ensuring that ice cream remains a special part of our lives as consumer preferences change and the nation's regulatory priorities evolve," he said. Industry data shows Americans consume roughly 19 pounds (8.6 kg) of ice cream a year. The frozen treat contributes an estimated $12 billion to the economy and supports more than 27,000 dairy industry jobs. In April, Kennedy announced plans to revoke authorization for two synthetic dyes and to "work with industry" to eliminate six more -- an approach critics dismissed as too soft and overly reliant on voluntary action. By contrast, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in one of its final acts under President Joe Biden finalized a rule to actually ban Red Dye No. 3, one of the most widely used and controversial colorings. Yet there are signs that Kennedy's peer pressure strategy is yielding some results. Major food manufacturers including Nestle, Kraft Heinz, General Mills and PepsiCo have already signed on to ditch artificial dyes. Kennedy on Monday said between "35 and 40 percent" of the food industry has now pledged to make the shift, but it was notable the ice cream makers' pledge pushes past the health secretary's original target of end-2026, giving companies an extra year to adjust their supply chains. And key holdouts remain -- for example Mars, the maker of M&M's and Skittles, and its subsidiary Kellogg's, whose Froot Loops still use Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, and Yellow 6 in the U.S., even though the same cereal is artificial dye-free in places like Canada. At the same time, Trump's FDA has fast-tracking natural-dye based alternatives, adding gardenia (genipin) blue to the list on Monday, the fourth such approval in two months. © 2025 AFP
Japan Times
14-07-2025
- Japan Times
When an HIV scientific breakthrough isn't enough
A landmark breakthrough in HIV prevention — a scientific feat decades in the making — received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration last month. Gilead Sciences' lenacapavir is so effective that global health leaders had started to cautiously talk about the end of an epidemic that continues to kill more than 600,000 people each year. We should be celebrating its arrival. Instead, aid groups and the countries most affected by HIV are reeling from the Trump administration's relentless attacks on the global health infrastructure. Instead of perfecting plans for a rollout of the medication, they are scrambling to ensure people with HIV have the drugs they need to survive. Last year, I wrote about the stunning — or as one HIV expert described it, "spine-chilling'— results from a large study of lenacapavir. None of the women and adolescents who were given the twice-yearly injection in the trial became infected with HIV. In a second study involving men who have sex with men and transgender individuals who have sex with men, the treatment was 96% effective. Even better, Gilead is working on a newer version that could potentially offer protection for a year or more. That's about as close to an HIV vaccine we're likely to get — at least for many years. It's also the world's best shot of achieving the goal of ending HIV by 2030. For low- and middle-income countries that continue to face frustratingly stubborn infection rates, a twice-yearly drug could be a game-changer. Although existing treatments of daily pills do an excellent job at preventing infection, getting people to use them consistently has been difficult. There is the stigma attached to the pills. Ensuring patients return for frequent testing and refills is also challenging — as is simply remembering to take them daily. Consider the typical day of a mom with a newborn and it's easy to understand how six months of protection could make a real difference in lowering HIV cases in women and infants. Some experts have even suggested lenacapavir is our best chance of wiping out new infections in children. That was before the Trump administration abruptly shut down USAID, the lead agency behind Pepfar. The global initiative to combat HIV/AIDS is credited with saving an estimated 26 million lives since its inception in 2003. Although the administration granted a limited waiver to allow some HIV services to continue, funding is significantly restrained. As health workers grapple with fewer resources, their focus has shifted to people living with HIV. "When the chips are down, you safeguard treatment because those people will die if they don't get their antiretroviral,' says Linda-Gail Bekker, director of the Desmund Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town. And yet, she said, "prevention we know is an absolute cornerstone to bringing this epidemic under control.' Because the situation is so dynamic, it's been difficult to capture what's happening on the ground. The best current model suggests the administration's actions could result in at least 70,000 additional new infections and another 5,000 deaths in the next five years. UCLA infectious disease epidemiologist Dvora Joseph Davey says that in 2024, the eight public health clinics in Cape Town — where she is based — saw three infants who were HIV-positive at birth. In the first five months of this year, they've already seen three babies born with the infection. She knows there will be more. One pregnant woman with HIV recently came into the clinic and, at 37 weeks, her viral load was dauntingly high. She'd skipped picking up her last three-month supply of pills. The nurse she'd been seeing was let go as part of the funding cuts and no one was available to do a blood draw at her last visit, Davey says. If the people who, in theory, should still be benefiting from global aid are falling through the cracks, what hope do we have for prevention? Prevention efforts have already been severely disrupted in some countries. Supply is responsible for some of the upheaval, but the more complicated problem is getting the drugs to the people who need them most. "We need low-cost product and also a low-cost delivery mode,' says Carmen Pérez Casas, senior strategy lead at Unitaid, a global health initiative hosted by the World Health Organization. The situation for the latter "has changed radically,' she says. HIV prevention is not as simple as just handing out a prescription. It's first identifying those most at risk of infection, getting them tested to confirm they are negative and offering counseling about their options. 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Experts tell me they've scaled back their expectations given the upheaval with Pepfar. The Trump administration's termination of National Institutes of Health grants to foreign countries has created additional hurdles. It's been particularly devastating in South Africa, where the NIH supported a significant chunk of research related to HIV. That means less money to conduct so-called implementation studies for lenacapavir, which are crucial for understanding how to improve the drug's use in the real world. One simple thing the Trump administration could do is free up funding for prevention. Pepfar continues to operate under a waiver that only allows PrEP money to be spent for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Groundbreaking science alone won't end HIV. It must be paired with affordability and access. The Trump administration's callous cuts to global health efforts put all of those things at risk — including the promising future where HIV is brought to heel. Lisa Jarvis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, health care and the pharmaceutical industry.
