Beijing, China - On June 21, Toumai® four-arm laparoscopic surgical robot (referred to as Toumai® Robot) took another step in the 5G ultra remote surgery and completed the world’s first 5G ultra remote robot-assisted total hysterectomy with double adnexectomy after strict and sufficient technical demonstration, animal experiments and scentific ethics demonstration. The surgery spans more than 4000 kilometers across the territory of our country, connecting the Seventh Medical Center of PLC General Hospital and the People’s Hospital of Pishan County in Xinjiang. It was jointed completed by the teams of director Yuanguang Meng and director Li’an Li of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Seventh Medical Center and the Obstetrics and Gynecology and operation room team of the People’s Hospital of Pishan County. The surgery is another significant breakthrough achieved by Toumai® Robot in assisting in completing complex surgeries, and has important demonstration significance for the development and application of 5G remote surgery in China.

The patient, 51 years old, experienced abnormal uterine hemorrhage, complicated hyperplasia of endometrium due to curettage pathology. For poor conservative therapy, it was decided to perform hysterectomy for the patient.

After learning that the People’s Hospital of Pishan County is capable of performing 5G Telerobotics assisted surgery, which has such advantages as less bleeding during the surgery, short surgical duration and fast recovery after surgery, the patient decided to receive 5G ultra remote surgery in local hospital.

On the day of surgery, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Seventh Medical Center and the People’s Hospital of Pishan County worked together to complete various preparations. With the support from the 5G network of telecommunication, director Yuanguang Meng, who is more than 4000 kilometers away, sent operation instructions to the surgical robot in the operating room of the People’s Hospital of Pishan County by operating the Chinese-developed Toumai® robot operating table, and operated the robotic arm to perform the first ultra remote endoscopic robot assisted total hysterectomy with double adnexectomy in the world.

During the surgery, leaders of the Seventh Medical Center and the People’s Hospital of Pishan County were present to guide and observe the operation perform by Yuanguang Meng. The entire surgery was successfully completed in 60 minutes, during which the entire uterus and bilateral appendages were removed from the vagina, without significant bleeding, so it received unanimous praise from family members of the patient.

After the surgery, director Yuanguang Meng indicated that as an innovative application of new information communication technology and medical technology, 5G remote surgery provides patients with a new choice of surgical methods. By persistently adhering to the concept of high-quality development, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology established the first 5G remote precision minimally-invasive surgery training center in the world in last June, and officially launched the “5G precision minimally-invasive surgery alliance construction project” in this June, aiming to support medical institutions at all levels nationwide to carry out the construction of women’s health intelligent medical system with the diagnosis and treatment of gynecological diseases as the core, and make full use of innovative medical technologies such as artificial intelligence in the Internet Age, achieve the sinking of high-quality medical resources and popularization and application of innovative medical technologies, for benefiting more patients and contributing to the high-quality development and construction of the PLA General Hospital.

Dr. Chao He, the president of MicroPort® MedBot® Group stated:

With the innovative development of modern medical technology, increasingly more hospitals and surgeons will understand and apply surgical robots. Thanks to the features of short learning curves and ease of use, it is convenient for quick cultivation of high-level surgeons and is conducive to improving the medical service level of hospitals. In the future, after the promotion and popularization of the 5G remote surgery, we can break through the limitations of time and space by establishing platforms such as the remote consultation, remote teaching and remote surgery. Patients can receive the diagnosis and treatment from experts in different places locally, reducing the time and efforts spent by patients or experts traveling to different places. In addition, sharing and optimization of medical resources can be achieved, which is conducive to improve the current situation of uneven distribution of medial resources among different regions to a certain extent.