World’s first operation performed by robot surgeons has been carried out

Rory McKeown | Assistant editor (news) Published July 14, 2026 3:23pm Updated July 14, 2026 3:31pm Two teleoperated robots work as a team to perform a laparoscopic gallbladder removal during a pre-clinical trial (Picture: University of California San Diego (UCSD)/Cover Images) It’s like the plot of a science fiction film. The world’s first operation performed by robot surgeons has been successfully carried out. Researchers say the breakthrough could one day allow specialists to carry out life-saving procedures from hundreds of miles away, helping patients in remote communities, disaster zones and military field hospitals. The human-shaped robots completed two gallbladder removal operations during a preclinical trial on large animal models. One procedure saw a robot operate alongside a huma