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"I long ago realized that I could reach far more people by writing something, than by walking down the street with a banner."
- John Brunner

Automaton Steam Surgeon  
  Mechanized surgery.  

This is the earliest fictional reference to the idea of a robotic or autonomous doctor or surgeon.

Immediately upon their arrival, Prince Ferdinand and Lord Edmund had their wounds dressed by the automaton steam surgeon belonging to the prison, which, being properly arranged and wound up, staunched the blood, spread the plasters, and affixed the bandages with as much skill as though it had done nothing but walk a hospital all its life. As soon as these operations were performed, the prisoners were locked up in separate cells, and left to meditate upon their situations.
Technovelgy from The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century, by Jane Webb Loudon.
Published by Henry Colburn in 1828
Additional resources -

Compare to robot surgery from Secret of the Buried City (1939) by John Russell Fearn and robot surgeon from The Bicentennial Man (1976) by Isaac Asimov.

For automated medical care, compare to the emergency treatment tank from Agent of Vega (1949) by James Schmitz, the shipboard medical treatment from Contagion (1950) by Katherine MacLean, the Gobathian from Time is the Simplest Thing (1961) by Clifford Simak, the autodoc from World of Ptaavs (1965) by Larry Niven, the surgical homeostatic unit from Now Wait For Last Year (1966) by Philip K. Dick, the diagnostat from The Man in the Maze (1969) by Robert Silverberg, electronic body analyzer from The Andromeda Strain (1969) by Michael Crichton, the crechepod from The Godmakers (1972) by Frank Herbert and the autosurgeon from Altered Carbon (2003) by Richard Morgan.

See also the phymech robot doctor from Wanted in Surgery (1957) by Harlan Ellison.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century
  More Ideas and Technology by Jane Webb Loudon
  Tech news articles related to The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century
  Tech news articles related to works by Jane Webb Loudon

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