Indian-American Doctor Performs Surgery From 56 Km Away In 1st Telerobotic Surgery In US

In a historic medical milestone, an Indian-American surgeon successfully performed the first remote, inter-hospital telerobotic surgery in the United States. Operating from a remote location in suburban Orlando, Dr Vipul Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration, successfully removed a cancerous prostate from a patient located 56 kilometres away.

The 66-year-old male patient, identified as Mark, decided to take part in the clinical research study evaluating an investigational robotic telesurgery system. The procedure, conducted under a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved Investigational Device Exemption (ICE) saw Mark placed at an AdventHealth facility in Minneola, Florida, while Patel was in another AdventHealth facility in the community of Celebration.

Study co-principal investigator and surgeon Marcio Moschovas provided onsite support to Mark during the procedure, an AdventHealth news release said. The operation concluded successfully, and Mark was now recovering well.

Patel, who has previously performed more than 21,000 robotic prostatectomies, remotely operated using the surgical system developed by MicroPort MedBot.

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'New Era Of Surgery'

Post the successful surgery, Patel said he believes the procedure could usher in a "new era of surgery". Notably, telesurgery combines robotic technology with communications infrastructure that allows a surgeon to control surgical instruments while physically separated from the patient.

"For generations, access to highly specialised care has often depended on where a patient lives," Patel said in a statement. "This study allows us to evaluate whether telesurgery could one day help reduce geographic barriers to specialized treatment. Important questions about safety, effectiveness and technical performance remain under investigation."

“We are entering a new era of surgery. The future will be defined by how we combine human expertise, robotics and technology to push the boundaries of what is possible for patients around the world.”

Doug Harcombe, CEO of AdventHealth's Central Florida South Market. added: "Our mission is to extend whole-person healing and hope to every person we care for regardless of where they live. As we continue to explore what's possible, our focus remains on creating better outcomes, strengthening our communities, and extending healing and hope to more families.”

The surgery was performed after 10 other investigational telesurgeries were conducted between Orlando, Florida and Luanda, Angola, though AdventHealth said this was the first attempted fully in the US.