For years, the world of medicine has been steadily advancing the art of robot-assisted procedures, enabling doctors to enhance their technique inside the operating theatre.

Now US researchers say a robot has successfully performed keyhole surgery on pigs all on its own – without the guiding hand of a human. Furthermore, they add, the robot surgeon produced “significantly better” results than humans.

The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (Star) carried out laparoscopic surgery to connect two ends of an intestine in four pigs. According to a paper published in Science Robotics, the robot excelled at the procedure, which requires a high level of precision and repetitive movements.

Axel Krieger, of Johns Hopkins University, said it marked the first time a robot had performed laparoscopic surgery without human help.

“Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine,” he said. “The Star performed the procedure in four animals and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure.”

Connecting two ends of an intestine is a challenging procedure in gastrointestinal surgery, requiring a surgeon to apply stitches – or sutures – with high accuracy and consistency. Even a slight hand tremor or misplaced stitch can result in a leak that could result in a patient suffering fatal complications.