Podcast Explores Four Decades of Surgical Robotics

Robot Talk Episode 162, "The robot doctor will see you now," is a live panel recorded at the Great Exhibition Road Festival in London, published June 26, 2026. Host Claire brings together three senior UK researchers to reflect on more than 40 years of robot-assisted surgery and the AI now reshaping operating theatres worldwide.

George Mylonas is Associate Professor in Robotics and Technology in Cancer at Imperial College London's Hamlyn Centre, leading research in surgical robotics, soft robotics, minimal access surgical technology, and data-driven operating theatres. Antonia Tzemanaki is Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Bristol, where her Dexterous Manipulation and Wearable Robotics group builds robotic surgical simulators, needle-steering tools, and hand exoskeletons for surgery and rehabilitation. Tom Vercauteren is Professor of Interventional Image Computing at King's College London and co-founder of Hypervision Surgical, whose non-invasive optical imaging technology is now used in hundreds of hospitals worldwide.

The panel surveys the arc from the first robot-assisted surgical procedures over 40 years ago to current AI-enhanced systems supporting clinicians in diagnosis, surgery, and rehabilitation. Discussion centres on three open challenges: how regulators can oversee medical AI tools that continuously learn and adapt; what ethical frameworks govern increasingly autonomous surgical systems; and how to ensure equitable global access to advanced medical robotics beyond well-resourced institutions.

For AI and ML practitioners working in healthcare and robotics, the episode offers a structured expert overview - from three active researchers whose work spans lab-to-clinic translation - of how machine learning and computer vision are advancing surgical robotics into mainstream clinical practice.