Remote robotic bladder surgery connects Wuhan and Hyderabad

In a landmark demonstration of cross-border telemedicine, a surgeon in Wuhan, China, has successfully performed a robotic surgery on a patient located over 4,000 kilometers away in Hyderabad, India. The procedure, a bladder reconnection surgery also described as a ureteric reimplant, was completed in approximately 90 minutes on May 18, marking a significant milestone in remote robotic healthcare.

The surgery was conducted by Dr. Syed Mohammed Ghouse, a urologist affiliated with both Tongji Hospital in Wuhan and the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology in Hyderabad. From a surgeon’s console in China, Dr. Ghouse controlled robotic arms positioned over the patient in an Indian operating theatre. The operation utilized the MedBot robotic platform, a system developed by the Chinese company MicroPort, which is already in use at medical institutes in India.

Critical to the procedure’s success was a high-speed internet connection, with a 5G network enabling the transmission of surgical commands between the two countries within 200 milliseconds. This minimal latency allowed for real-time control. The system required broadband speeds of 30 to 50 Mbps to transmit live, magnified 3D...