New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) Amid significant medical breakthroughs being achieved by robots, billionaire Elon Musk on Monday said they have the potential to surpass the best human surgeons within five years. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said that his brain-computer interface company Neuralink depended on robots for the brain-computer electrode insertion as the task was impossible to achieve with humans. “Robots will surpass good human surgeons within a few years and the best human surgeons within five years,” Musk shared in a post on the social media platform X.

“Neuralink had to use a robot for the brain-computer electrode insertion, as it was impossible for a human to achieve the required speed and precision,” he added. The post came in response to another post by influencer Mario Nawfal who highlighted a recent breakthrough of robotics in medicine by the US-based medical device company Medtronic. Nawfal said that Medtronic successfully deployed its Hugo robotic system in "137 real surgeries -- fixing prostates, kidneys, and bladders”. The surgery results were "better than doctors expected” and saw “a success rate of over 98 per cent’.

The complication rates were also significantly low for prostate surgeries (3.7 per cent), kidney surgeries (1.9 per cent), and bladder surgeries (17.9 per cent). Of the 137 surgeries, only two needed to switch back to regular surgery -- one because of a robot glitch, and one because of a tricky patient case, Nawfal said. 

Meanwhile, Musk’s Neuralink is currently engaged in a clinical trial of its brain-computer interface technology. The company aims to create brain-controlled devices for people with paralysis or neurodegenerative diseases. While none of the devices are yet commercial, three people have successfully received a Neuralink brain implant. “If all goes well, there will be hundreds of people with Neuralinks within a few years, maybe tens of thousands within 5 years, millions within 10 years,” Musk said, on X in 2024.

/IANS