[mubhij]

Give the rat a label that binds specifically to those tissues and guide the robot to the tissue using that. Self-guided robots to be used in surgery are being developed and if I remember currently there is one available for a very minor form of neurosurgery that involves sticking a very thin needle into the skull. What you need a robot for is very much possible and FYI they will be able to do it with better precision and less contamination.

[geographomics]

That's a really good point, I hadn't considered the translational benefits from surgical automation.

I still think we're a long way off from automated dissection though. An AI performing these tasks would need very high level of situational awareness to be able to interpret the internal structure of a moving animal.