Ganzhou, China - From October 21 to 23, 2022, the first Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Hunan Regional Urology Summit & Symposium on Discipline Development of Regional Medical Centers was successfully held in Ganzhou, crowned as the “revolutionary cradle”. The conference was sponsored by Ganzhou Medical Association and hosted by Ganzhou Hospital of Nanfang Hospital (Ganzhou City People’s Hospital). More than two hundred experts from various districts and counties of Ganzhou City, Jiangxi and other provinces attended this grand academic event held in autumn both online and offline. MicroPort^® MedBot^® showcased its flagship product Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot at the venue, enabling the on-site experts to feast their eyes on its spectacular test drive demonstration, thereby delivering a cutting-edge sci-tech spin to the high-level academic event with its outstanding product and technical strength that leads the domestic robot industry.

The conference focused on bladder cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, urinary control, etc., sharing the latest discoveries and results of frontier research. The venue was so brimming with dynamism via nine live surgical demonstrations and lectures by experts. During the symposium, several professors shared the application of robotics in urology surgery, including robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy completed through retrovesical approach, robot-assisted total laparoscopic radical neobladder surgery, and exploration of urinary control protection for robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. The experts fully recognized the advantages of robotic surgery in terms of flexibility, precision and stability in surgical practice, which empower doctors to accomplish more minimally invasive and delicate surgical operations in clinical application by extending their visual scope and hand-use.

The opening ceremony of the forum was hosted by Qiang Wei, Vice President and Executive Director of the Urology Department of Ganzhou City People’s Hospital, who expressed his warm welcome to the participating leaders and guests and his earnest expectation for the meeting – to communicate with the nation’s top experts through this leading academic forum to help the Hospital get in the “circle of friends” that embody the highest level of urology in the country.

Professor Ting Sun, Director of the Jiangxi Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, said in his speech that the Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Hunan Regional Urology Summit is of great significance, since Ganzhou City has been taking the lead in urology discipline development in recent years in Jiangxi Province, and has been committed to elevating regional specialized medical development through various academic meetings. This academic feast boasts rich content and diverse forms, enriched by live surgical demonstrations and expert thematic lectures, during which the participants benefited enormously.

Professor Jian Huang, Director of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and Director of the Urology Department of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, noted in his speech that as the minimally invasive surgery has attracted wide attention from the academic community, the research and academic discussion based on the frontier urology development on a global scale will facilitate the efficient interchange and sharing of clinical experience and results, thereby delivering tangible benefits to patients.

The experts unanimously believed that the successful launch of this summit forum and the symposium on the discipline development of regional medical centers will greatly contribute to the medical resource allocation, the high-quality regional medical discipline service system, the high-quality development of regional health care, and the efficiency of resource utilization and medical services. As the first specialized medical forum of urology, this forum will serve as a fresh start for the advancement of regional medical care, officially ushering in a chapter of various disciplines and thus laying a solid foundation for the development of regional medical care in China.

During the conference, the Toumai^® Robotic Surgery Class was successfully carried out, and Qiang Wei, Vice President and Executive Director of the Urology Department of Ganzhou City People’s Hospital, was invited to attend as the special instructor of the Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot by offering on-site guidance. The theme of the training was the application of surgical robots in urology and the operation practice of Toumai^®, featuring a tight schedule and informative learning programs throughout the day, during which the participants marveled at the performance of the 3D high-definition field of view and the flexible robotic arms of Toumai^®, saying that the learning was truly rewarding, and they also looked forward to Toumai^®’s broad prospect in clinical surgical application and technological innovation of the equipment.

Qiang Wei said that he had witnessed the rapid growth of Chinese-developed medical robots in the past decade, and firmly believed that the launch of Toumai^® with full independent intellectual property rights is vital to Chinese domestic robots in the field of urological surgery, helping Chinese doctors continuously rise to the challenge of performing complicated and difficult urological surgeries. With the rise of Chinese-developed surgical robots represented by Toumai^®, China becomes well-positioned to gradually break the monopoly of overseas devices on its own medical market, and truly empower domestic doctors to overcome clinical barriers to the benefit of more patients.

The training was well received by 21 surgeon trainees from various hospitals in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Hunan. After Qiang Wei instructed them in the advantages and clinical skills of MicroPort^® Toumai^®, the trainees moved to the MicroPort^® Toumai^® robot booth for a close observation and carried out the test drive. Haitao Zhang, Senior Training Director of MicroPort^® MedBot^®, introduced and demonstrated the operation of the Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot in detail. The trainees were very enthusiastic and had test-drive one after another.

Through surgical simulation operations such as modular exercises and in vitro organ simulation exercises, the trainees were immersed in the operation methods and technical advantages of MicroPort^® Toumai^®. In particular, they were tremendously impressed by the 3D high-definition field of view and the high magnification effect of the tissue of Toumai^® and approved the stability and flexibility of Chinese-developed robots in terms of human-robot coordination.

The presence of MicroPort^® MedBot^® at the First Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Hunan Regional Urology Summit and its successful hosting of the Toumai^® robot surgery training course was highly acclaimed and applauded by the participating experts. As the first and only four-arm laparoscopic robot Obtain NMPA approval for listing which independently developed and approved by a Chinese company , the reliable and stable performance of Toumai^® can not only cater to the operating habits of different surgeons, but also provide assistance to doctors in more minimally invasive surgeries that require high precision, thus meet the needs of performing difficult and complicated surgeries. This will step up the clinical application of robotic surgeries in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Hunan, and drive the regional urology and multi-disciplinary departments to make breakthroughs in cracking clinical bottlenecks. Furthermore, as Toumai^® has been continuously put into successful clinical use and scaling new heights in innovation in the field of 5G telesurgery, it is expected to break the barriers between and among regional medical resources, and allow high-end medical technology to reach more areas to resolve the inconvenient access to medical treatment for patients in these four provinces, so that local people can enjoy frontier medical technology, thereby fulfilling the company’s founding aspiration to “Make Surgery Easier, Safer and Less Invasive”.