WASHINGTON — Getting stitched up by Dr. Robot may one day be reality: Scientists have created a robotic system that did just that in living animals — without a doctor pulling the strings. The research is part of a move toward autonomous surgical robots; doctors would still supervise and handle the rest of the surgery.

While the device isn’t ready for operating rooms, small tests on pigs showed the robotic arm performed as well as, and in some cases a bit better than, competing surgeons, researchers reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

“The purpose wasn’t to replace surgeons,” said Dr. Peter C.W. Kim, who led the project. “If you have an intelligent tool that works with a surgeon, can it improve the outcome? That’s what we have done.” — AP