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| Robots Trained Using 23,000 Surgical Videos |
With Artificial Intelligence.. Chinese Robot Performs Complex Surgery Without Human Intervention
In an unprecedented step towards the future of healthcare, a surgical robot developed by a Chinese company successfully performed a complex bile duct surgery on a pig weighing approximately 30 kilograms, relying entirely on artificial intelligence and without direct intervention from surgeons.
Shanghai MicroPort MedBot announced that the trial took place on December 24th using its Toumai surgical robot, powered by a proprietary AI model called Neuron, a multimodal surgical model.
High Autonomy
According to the company, the robot autonomously performed the essential surgical steps, including closing and cutting the bile duct, and successfully completed 88% of the procedure on the first attempt. It then made real-time adjustments and corrections to complete the surgery successfully, according to a report published by SCMP.
A Surgical Brain Trained on Billions of Data
The system is based on the Neuron model, an artificial intelligence model with 3 billion training parameters, and was trained using 23,000 surgical video clips. The company explained that this model enables the robot to mimic the decision-making process of senior surgeons and optimize surgical strategy based on live images of the procedure and the condition of surgical instruments during execution.
A Leap Forward in Robotic Surgery
This trial is the first of its kind globally, representing a significant shift from remotely controlled robotic surgery to fully autonomous surgery. Brian Chang, the company's medical director, stated that this achievement demonstrates how large AI models can become a powerful support tool for surgeons by improving accuracy and consistency while maintaining specialized medical supervision.
Human Supervision and Regulatory Concerns
However, the company emphasized that the procedure was performed under the full supervision of human surgeons, with the possibility of intervention at any time. It also stressed that this trial does not constitute direct proof of the system's safety or effectiveness in human procedures, and its results cannot be generalized to human clinical practice at this time. She added that the system has not yet received any regulatory approvals for performing autonomous surgeries on humans and has not entered human clinical trials.
A Chinese Race to Employ AI in Medicine
This experiment reflects the accelerating efforts of technology companies to employ artificial intelligence in the medical sector, whether through robotic surgery systems like Da Vinci or through advanced diagnostic models. Alibaba unveiled an AI model for the early detection of stomach cancer in June 2025, following the FDA designation of another tool for detecting pancreatic cancer as a "breakthrough device."
Tencent has also developed the Aimis medical imaging platform, dedicated to cloud-based scientific research and the management of digital medical images. This rapid progress suggests that AI-powered autonomous surgery may be closer to reality than previously thought, although it remains, for now, under strict experimental and regulatory oversight.
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