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Victoria Bela

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.
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.
While Zhang performed the radical prostatectomy from Italy, a medical team and a backup surgeon were with the patient in China where robotic arms matched each movement Zhang made to remove the cancerous tissue.

“The biggest problem with remote surgery is communication, and whether there is delay. Today’s surgery basically has no delay and is almost the same as on-site surgery,” Zhang said, according to a report from state broadcaster CCTV’s military channel.
The surgery was broadcast live during the annual Challenges in Laparoscopy and Robotics & AI conference that was held in Rome from June 5 to 7.
“For me it was really a historical experience, a historical moment,” said Vito Pansadoro, one of conference’s directors and a specialist in robotic surgery, according to CCTV.
The actual total two-way communication distance between Zhang and his patient was more than 20,000km, a considerable challenge since longer distances can cause more latency, or delay, between the surgeon’s console in one location, and the response of the robotic arms at the other location.
In this case, China’s 5G telecommunication network helped to lower the delay to a 135 millisecond latency, less that the 200 millisecond latency that various studies have identified as ideal for telesurgery.


Before the prostate telesurgery, Zhang and his team had performed more than a hundred experimental studies on animals that involved remote surgery, as well as exploratory surgeries and small sample trials on human patients, according to a report from People’s Daily.
The team had also performed a simulated operation to test the delay between Rome and Beijing.
“The future is now!” Michael Stifelman, chairman of urology at the Hackensack University Medical Centre in the US state of New Jersey, wrote on X, adding that it appeared as if Zhang was in the same room as the patient.
Zhang told the PLA news site that telesurgery could be used for military medical applications in the future, and that they planned to install remote surgical equipment for China’s international search and rescue team.


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Science

Chinese doctor performs telesurgery first with Rome-Beijing procedure

A Chinese medical team has performed the world’s first live transcontinental remote robotic prostate removal. Photo: Handout

Medical team leader Zhang Xu says remote surgery is now “almost the same as on-site surgery”, thanks to improved technology. Photo: Handout

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

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

China-led team creates soft ‘octopus’ arm in reach for intuitive human-robot interaction

The electronics-integrated soft robotic octopus arm (E-SOAM)  replicates the “bend propagation” motion of the marine animal’s tentacles. Photo: Handout

The E-SOAM could provide valuable insights into the development of future bio-inspired autonomous systems. Photo: Handout

Fosun Pharma prepares to deliver Da Vinci surgical robots to make advanced medical treatment affordable to Chinese patients

Visitors looking at Fosun Pharma’s locall-produced Da Vinci surgical system in the Medical Equipment and Healthcare Exhibition Area during the CIIE 2023 Expo in Shanghai on November 6. Shanghai, China. Photo: Future Publishing via Getty Images

Fosun’s chairman Guo Guangchang seen during an interview in November 2020. Photo: Thomas Yau

The Da Vinci surgical system on display at the Intuitive Surgical-Fosun Medical Technology booth during the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on November 6, 2023. Photo: Handout

Dr Wang Gang (second from right) chats with a 31-year-old AD patient at the Shanghai Ruijin Hospital’s Hainan branch. Photo: Handout

News

China

Medical team led by Zhang Xu conducts successful remote robotic cancer surgery from Italy on patient in China


Medical team led by Zhang Xu conducts successful remote robotic cancer surgery from Italy on patient in China.


Health in China

Robotics