We have recently looked at a new generation of surgical assistant robots, from Maestro by Moon Surgical to SpeedPAL by Fullbright Medical. But this is something different. We are now seeing humanoid robots entering the operating room.
Projects such as ORchestra at Samsung Medical Center are exploring humanoid systems that can work alongside the surgeon, handing over instruments, manipulating the endoscope, retracting tissue and taking on tasks traditionally performed by scrub nurses and surgical assistants. Other research groups are exploring similar concepts, bringing humanoid platforms increasingly close to the surgical environment.
The technical aspects are fascinating, and we will look at them in more detail on the corresponding page. But when I see this, my first question is not technical: why does it need to be humanoid?
There are obvious practical arguments. The operating room is already designed around humans. Instruments, tables, equipment and workflows are built for human hands and human movements. A humanoid robot could potentially enter that environment without requiring us to redesign the entire room.
But there is another question that I find even more interesting. As a surgeon, do I actually want to feel that I am working with a machine? I have never felt any particular need to empathise with a da Vinci. It is clearly a machine, an extraordinarily sophisticated surgical tool. But what happens when the machine has a face, a body, two arms and human-like movements? If you spend several hours operating alongside it, asking it to pass instruments, hold the endoscope or retract tissue, does it remain a tool? Or does the human form change the way we perceive and interact with it?
Perhaps the most interesting consequence of humanoid surgical robotics will not be mechanical at all. It may be psychological and social.
We are not simply asking whether robots can perform surgical tasks. We are asking what happens when the operating room becomes a team made of humans and machines, and some of those machines look remarkably like us. Would you prefer your surgical robot to look like a machine… or like a member of your team?
J Granell. Sep 21, 2026