World's First Successful Surgery Performed by Humanoids
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“WORLD'S FIRST SUCCESSFUL SURGERY PERFORMED BY HUMANOIDS”
covered 2026-07-11 ▶ Be on the air with NBC NewsWatch the moment
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Robotic colorectal surgery uses arms thinner than a human finger!
Surgeons like Dr. Liu operate robotic systems with instruments just 8mm wide — smaller than a dime — allowing precise incisions inside the colon that reduce recovery time from weeks to days compared to open surgery.
Robotic surgery dates back to 1985 — now humanoids are operating!
The first robot-assisted surgery used ROBODOC in 1992. The da Vinci system got FDA approval in 2000. Now humanoid robots are crossing a new frontier. Learn more at Wikipedia
Robotic surgery isn't new — da Vinci has assisted in 10M+ ops since 2000!
The da Vinci system (Intuitive Surgical) is surgeon-controlled via console. Today's humanoid surgery milestone marks the first time a robot operated with true autonomy — a leap 25 years in the making.
Topic poll · all networksIn what year did the first robot-assisted surgery on a human take place?
- 1975
- 1985
- 1993
- 2001
Guess, then reveal the answer
1985
Humanoid robots just performed the world's first successful surgery!
Surgical robots have evolved since the 1980s, but prior systems required human control. Fully autonomous humanoid surgery marks a historic leap. Explore the history at Wikipedia
Robotic surgery has been FDA-approved since 2000 — but never by humanoids!
Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system has assisted in over 10 million procedures since 2000. Until now, all surgical robots were fixed-arm systems — not humanoid, autonomous robots with human-like form and movement.