The top international academic journal Nature has published a landmark paper titled In vivo feasibility study of humanoid robots in surgery. A cross-disciplinary research team adopted Unitree G1 commercial general-purpose humanoid robot and completed the world’s first full standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy on two live pigs. This research fully verified the application capability of China-made humanoid hardware in high-precision medical scenarios.

 Core Technical Scheme for Surgical Application

1. Custom Fixture for Universal Medical Instruments A dedicated gripper fixture was developed for Unitree G1 robotic arms, which is compatible with off-the-shelf laparoscopic forceps. Enterprises no longer need to develop customized surgical robots separately, greatly cutting hardware R&D and commercialization costs.

2. Master-Slave Teleoperation System Surgeons remotely control Unitree G1 via 3D stereoscopic head-mounted displays and dual-hand master controllers. The system proportionally converts delicate hand movements into robot arm motions for intracavity minimally invasive operations. Two operation modes were validated: single robot independent surgery, and dual-robot collaboration where the second robot assists camera positioning and tissue retraction.

3. Complete Live Animal Experiment Data Two live female pigs aged 11 weeks and 16 weeks were selected as experimental subjects. Licensed veterinarians managed anesthesia and standardized sterile preoperative preparation throughout the whole process. Both laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgeries were finished successfully without open conversion:

· Operation time on the master console dropped from 56 minutes to 32 minutes after optimization, and robot reposition calibrations reduced from 8 times to 4 times;

· Minor bile leakage and liver bed bleeding occurred in the second surgery, which were treated immediately via suction and electrocoagulation with no severe complications.

Competitive Advantages of Unitree G1 Humanoid Platform

Mainstream dedicated surgical robots on the global market are bulky, high-priced, and require expensive proprietary consumables & maintenance, limiting their popularization in grassroots medical institutions and overseas emerging markets. Mass-produced Unitree G1 general humanoid robot has prominent strengths:

1. Ultra-lightweight design with only 27kg weight, easy deployment in standard operating rooms and labs;

2. Far lower procurement cost compared with traditional surgical robots, suitable for bulk procurement by small and medium medical institutions worldwide;

3. Multi-scenario universal platform compatible with standard medical instruments without proprietary consumables, supporting medical treatment, industrial operation and inspection tasks.

Current Technical Limitations & Commercial Prospect

The research team also pointed out major bottlenecks preventing humanoid robots from human clinical trials: frequent robot recalibration prolongs operation time, and no high-temperature sterilization compatible components are available to meet human surgery sterile standards. The iteration history of early surgical robots shows that the first generation required 6 hours for one surgery, while modern systems finish within 30 minutes. The industry predicts huge commercial potential with continuous optimization of motion accuracy, sterile structure and teleoperation latency. Liang Zekai, the first author of the paper, stated that this research proves the medical value of general humanoid hardware platforms, providing a new R&D reference for global robotics and medical device manufacturers.