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Chinese doctor performs telesurgery first with Rome-Beijing procedure
- Medical team led by Zhang Xu conducts successful remote robotic cancer surgery from Italy on patient in China
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![A Chinese medical team has performed the world’s first live transcontinental remote robotic prostate removal. Photo: Handout](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/06/10/df2008cc-9a0f-4d5f-a70d-e65a62cba069_9d3e0977.jpg?itok=OC7Pk6Vx&v=1718019588)
A Chinese surgeon has performed the world’s first live transcontinental remote robotic prostate removal – an operation that was carried out in Rome on a patient in Beijing.
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The long-distance operation – also known as telesurgery – used a surgical console connected remotely across 8,000km (about 5,000 miles) to a set of robotic arms with the help of a 5G network and fibre-optic connections.
“Telesurgery is one of the most important development directions in the future of surgery,” said Zhang Xu, director of urology at the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital, who performed the surgery, according to a report from the PLA’s official news site.
Telesurgery is conducted with remote-controlled robotic assistance so that a surgeon and patient are not required to be at the same location.
The procedure uses a console that displays a real-time image of their patient, enabling a surgeon to detect movement and direct the robotic arms that perform the operation.
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