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How 5G and remote robot arms are extending China’s surgical reach

  • In a national first, a Chinese surgeon in Hangzhou removes the gallbladder of a woman in Xinjiang
  • Advanced telecommunications and robotics promise to open up medical care to people in the furthest parts of the country

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5G and robotic technology allows surgeons in one part of the country to perform operations on people in another location. Photo: Zhejiang University Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital
Hayley Wong

A 30-year-old woman in China’s far west has become the first person in the country to have her gallbladder removed through remote surgery, in an operation orchestrated from more than 4,500km (2,800 miles) away.

The operation is part of broader national plans to advance the use of 5G-based robotics in medical care as part of the country’s five-year plan.

State-run Science and Technology Daily reported on Friday that a surgeon in the eastern coastal city of Hangzhou manoeuvred a four-arm laparoscopic robot to carry out the half-hour procedure on the patient in a hospital in Xinjiang on Thursday.

Liang Xiao, chief physician of the Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, said he carried out the surgery using 5G technology, and the success of the operation “indicates that robot-assisted remote surgery can be used widely”, the newspaper reported.

He added that remote surgery could not only improve the quality of local medical services, it could also be a valuable teaching aid, giving doctors in remote areas access to live demonstrations of operations.

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Under its five-year plan from 2021, China aims to accelerate use of robotics and other advanced technology not just in medical care but also in areas such as manufacturing, agriculture and construction.
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