The New York Times

University of California (UC), Berkeley scientists are establishing the Center for Automation and Learning for Medical Robots, a research center intended to help develop medical robots that can perform low-level and repetitive surgical tasks, enabling human doctors to concentrate on the most challenging and complex aspects of operations. "Our goal is to help surgeons focus on the critical aspects of surgery, rather than having to perform each tedious and repetitive subtask," says UC Berkeley professor Ken Goldberg. In May, the researchers presented a paper detailing the first example of a robot automating surgical tasks involving soft tissue. The robot, called the da Vinci surgical robot, is operated by surgeons at a workstation who remotely control instruments inserted through small incisions during minimally invasive procedures. To read further, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/science/new-research-center-aims-to-develop-second-generation-of-surgical-robots.html?_r=0.