Hospital pioneers remote robotic surgery

A hospital in Xiamen, Fujian province, facilitated the world's first successful cross-border remote robot-assisted heart surgery with experts from France, marking a historic milestone.

On Oct 23, Wang Yan, president of Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital affiliated with Xiamen University, and Lionel Leroux, a professor of cardiovascular disease from Bordeaux University Hospital, conducted a transcatheter mitral valve repair operation together while in Bordeaux, France. They remotely guided a robotic system in Xiamen to perform the surgery on a 73-year-old male patient from Xiamen without any local surgeons.

The hourlong procedure was executed with stable communication and submillimeter precision, according to Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital. The cardiac intervention, anesthesia, ultrasound, and nursing teams at the Xiamen hospital monitored the patient's vital signs and the robot system's operational status in real time, the hospital said.

"This ensures stable signals, a clear surgical field and safe procedures throughout the operation," the hospital said.

The surgery was successful, and the patient recovered well before being discharged from the hospital.

"This operation shows that using remote precision control for robotic interventional therapy is practical and safe in real-world clinical settings," the hospital said.

The robotic system was co-developed by the Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital and a Shanghai-based robotics company. The hospital said the system was first used in 2023 to complete the world's first robot-assisted mitral valve repair surgery.

"We successfully used a robotic system to repair a valve on a beating heart, which was incredibly challenging. This marks the first instance of completing such a surgery remotely. French experts were surprised that such an advanced procedure could be performed remotely with this equipment," Wang said.

"Completing this surgery in France is a big step for Chinese medical technology going global. We have shown that China's own cardiovascular robotic system can handle complex surgeries internationally," he added.

Leroux said the device was "incredible, as if the patient was in the room just in front of us. Very impressive and very efficient of course."

Thomas Modine, professor of cardiovascular surgery at Bordeaux University Hospital who provided remote guidance, called the procedure "a major milestone".

"The beauty of robotics and AI together is to be able to transport the technology everywhere in the world where it's needed. It's a way to democratize the skills and the practice. Robotic transcatheter therapy is needed and should be the next step," Modine said.

Wang added that this technique is sure to become more widely used, noting that doctors from the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia are eager to learn it and look forward to its future application in clinical settings.

Wang Bin, vice-president of the hospital in Xiamen, said: "Chinese technology needs to go global. Our previous experience on over a dozen cases laid the foundation for the cross-border collaboration."

Yang Jie contributed to this story.