外刊阅读 | Smithsonianmag | 机器人手术的过去、现在和未来

Here’s the ultimate hack to reduce exercise time: find physical activities that don’t feel like exercise at all.For example, you could ask a friend to join sessions of high-intensity interval training at a park.

hack    n.快速修正方法

这里有一个减少运动时间的终极方法:找一些完全不像运动的体育活动。例如，你可以邀请朋友去公园参加高强度的间歇训练。

The Past, Present and Future of Robotic Surgery

机器人手术的过去、现在和未来

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Robots have been found in the operating suite since the 1980s for things like holding a patient’s limbs in place, and later for laparoscopic surgery, in which surgeons can use remote-controlled robot arms to operate on the human body through tiny holes instead of huge cuts. But for the most part these robots have been, in essence, just very fancy versions of the scalpels and forceps surgeons have been using for centuries — incredibly sophisticated, granted, and capable of operating with incredible precision, but still tools in the surgeon’s hands.

Despite many challenges, that is changing. Today, five years after that award announcement, engineers are taking steps toward building independent machines that not only can cut or suture, but also plan those cuts, improvise and adapt. Researchers are improving the machines’ ability to navigate the complexities of the human body and coordinate with human doctors. But the truly autonomous robotic surgeon that the military may envision — just like truly driverless cars — may still be a long way off. And their biggest challenge may not be technological, but convincing people it’s OK to use them.

Unfortunately, the rest of the body isn’t as easy to lock in place. Muscles contract, stomachs gurgle, brains jiggle, and lungs expand and contract, for instance — even before a surgeon gets in there and starts moving things around themselves. And while a human surgeon can obviously see and feel what they’re doing, how could a robot know if its scalpel is in the right place or if tissues have shifted? One of the most promising options for such dynamic situations couples the use of cameras and sophisticated tracking software. In early 2022, for example, researchers at Johns Hopkins University used a device called the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR for short) to sew two ends of severed intestine back together in an anesthetized pig — a potentially very jiggly task — thanks to this visual system.

The robot can then use this visual information to predict the best course of action, presenting the human operator with different plans to choose from or checking in with them in between sutures. In tests, STAR worked well on its own — though not perfectly. In total, 83 percent of the sutures could be done autonomously, but the human still had to step in the other 17 percent of the time to correct things.“The 83 percent can definitely be overcome,” says Opfermann. Most of the problem was that the robot had a little trouble finding the right angle at certain corners and needed a human to nudge it into the right spot, he says. Newer, yet-to-be-published trials now have success rates in the high 90s. In the future, the human may only need to approve the plan, then watch it go, no intervention needed.

Even so, proving to hospitals and regulators that autonomous robots are both safe and effective may be the single biggest roadblock to truly human-free robots entering the surgical suite. Experts have a few takes on how to get around this. For instance, designers will likely need to be able to explain to regulators exactly how the robots think and decide what to do next, says Attanasio, especially if they progress to the point where they’re not just assisting a human surgeon but arguably practicing medicine themselves. That explanation may be easier said than done, though, since current artificial intelligence systems may leave observers few hints of how they make decisions. As a result, engineers may want to design with “explainability” in mind from the beginning.

The precise size and shape of organs, the presence of scar tissue, and the placement of nerves or blood vessels often differ from person to person.

differ from person to person  因人而异 

造句：The way people respond to stress differs from person to person. Some may choose to exercise, while others prefer meditation or talking to friends.（人们应对压力的方式因人而异。有些人可能会选择锻炼，而另一些人则喜欢冥想或与朋友交谈。）

In cars, we first got cruise control, but now there’s brake assist, lane assist, even assisted parking — all of which build towards something driverless.

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