Howard A. Paul; Co-Inventor of Surgical Robot

Howard A. Paul, 44, pioneering veterinarian who co-invented the Robodoc, a robotic device that assists with orthopedic surgery. Born in West Hartford, Conn., Paul earned degrees from Notre Dame University and the Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d’Alfort in France. He completed his internship and surgical residency and taught orthopedics at UC Davis. Paul teamed with UC Davis orthopedic surgeon William Bargar to create Robodoc, a combination of imaging and robotics that materialized into a scanner, a seven-foot flexible arm with a drill at the end, and a computer program to link the two. After using the device 26 times in replacing dogs’ hips, Paul and Bargar utilized Robodoc in a human hip replacement Nov. 7 in Sacramento. On Wednesday in Palo Alto of leukemia.