Shanghai, China --- Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot (hereinafter referred to as “Toumai^®") independently developed by MicroPort^®Medbot, a robotics-specialized subsidiary of Shanghai MicroPort^® Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Microport^®") completed the robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) at Oriental Hospital of Shanghai on November 01, 2019. Academician Sun Yinghao of Urology Department of Changhai Hospital affiliated to Naval Medical University personally directed the operation team and successfully performed the RALRP operation on a 65-year-old male patient. This is the first case of RALRP operation performed by domestic endoscopic robot, and Toumai^® Endoscopic Robot has become the first endoscopic robot to perform difficult urological surgery in China, symbolizing that the domestic endoscope robot can perform similar difficult and complicated operations.

It is reported that the patient was admitted to hospital and diagnosed as having an early prostate cancer. After preoperative discussion, the team led by Academician Sun Yinghao decided to use Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot to perform RALRP, which lasted about 1.5 hours and was completed successfully.

Radical prostatectomy is a radical treatment for an early prostate cancer. The surgical purpose is to remove the cancerous prostate completely. During the operation, the doctor will remove the prostate and seminal vesicle of the patient, and then anastomose the bladder with the urethral stump. In some cases, the lymph nodes in the diseased area will also be removed. As the prostate is located in the deep pelvic cavity of men, and the traditional surgical procedures, if conducted, may result in larger incisions, more intraoperative bleeding, greater damage to surrounding organs, and more postoperative complications in patients. Thus, the cases are basically treated by the laparoscopic micro-port surgery. Compared with open surgery, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy has less trauma, but it requires the operator to complete a large number of complicated surgical operations such as separating hemostasis, suturing and knotting, and functional reconstruction in the deep part of the narrow pelvic cavity, so it has been regarded as one of the most difficult minimally invasive operations in urology. Compared with traditional laparoscopic surgery, the robot-assisted surgery has the advantages of real 3D surgical view field, finely controlled wrist instruments, etc., which provides a guarantee for high dexterity in narrow space, thus shortening the operation time, reducing the surgical trauma and being more conducive to the protection of nerves and blood vessels; Patients' physiological functions, such as urine control and erectile function, can be recovered well after operation, and the patients thumb up in high satisfaction. In the United States and Europe, the robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery is expected to replace the laparoscopic surgery and open surgery as the standard solution for the treatment of localized prostate cancer, and this kind of surgery is also one of the representative surgical methods that can best reflect the clinical value of endoscopic robot surgery. Since the world's first robot-assisted radical prostatectomy was conducted in 2000, more than 85% of radical prostatectomy in the United States have been done by the robot-assisted surgery system.

Academician Sun Yinghao said after the operation: "Today, the radical prostatectomy is successfully completed with the domestic robot independently developed by Microport^®. Robot-assisted surgery is the direction and trend of surgical development in recent years. This advanced micro-port technology provides better surgical solutions for the treatment of many diseases, especially radical prostatectomy in urology, partial nephrectomy of renal cell carcinoma, etc. It is a good indication that can reflect the advantages and clinical value of robot system. As many robot-assisted surgery systems are imported products, they are limited in price and channel, and the cost performance is also facing great challenges.

Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot has performed well and realized a number of characteristic robot-assisting functions. As far as using experience is concerned, the System has little difference from similar products abroad, and has been competent for radical prostatectomy, which is a complex and delicate operation. Whether it is the stereoscopic and high-definition visual effect presented by 3D laparoscope, or the dexterity and fineness of mechanical arm, it can meet the needs of surgeons. Of course, there is still room for further upgrading and improvement of the system to become more excellent. As a Chinese urologist, it is my honor and I feel proud today of the surgery with Toumai^® Endoscopic Robot.”

At present, the laparoscopic robot is widely used abroad only. The global installed capacity of the system has reached nearly 5,000 sets, and the cumulative surgical volume has exceeded 6 million cases. Up to now, China has imported nearly 100 sets and completed more than 115,000 surgeries. The top eight hospitals with the highest unit-system operations in the world are all in China, indicating strong clinical needs and great application prospects. However, it is relatively high cost to purchase and maintain imported products. It costs about 25 million CNY to import a set of such robot into China, and the annual maintenance cost is about 1.2 million CNY. The cost of a single surgical consumable is about 25,900 CNY, which needs to be borne by patients separately. The high cost restricts to some extent the further development of clinical application of endoscopic robots in China.

Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot has achieved independent innovation in the base technologies such as robot body, 3D electronic laparoscopic system and robot control algorithm, and solved a series of "bottleneck" problems in the industrialization process. Compared with similar imported products, Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot optimizes the operator's surgical experience, reduces the cost of equipment maintenance and consumables, and is expected to step on a road of intellectual creation in China in the field of surgical robots.

MicroPort^® started the business layout of endoscopic robots early in 2014. The MicroPort^® robots have focused on robot research and development and industrialization for many years, and gradually formed a multi-department integrated solution represented by endoscopic robots, joint replacement robots and 3D electronic laparoscopy. At present, Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot is steadily advancing the process of clinical trials and industrialization. On October 17, the product officially entered the Special Procedure for Review of Innovative Medical Devices of the State Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. He Chao, General Manager of Shanghai MicroPort^® Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. said: "Endoscopic robot is one of the most important research and development directions of surgical robots, and it is known as the aircraft carrier in the field of medical devices. At present, the domestic market is still monopolized by the only foreign product, and it has been the technological highland of medical device research and development institutions in various countries for decades. The successful application of Toumai^® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot in radical prostatectomy indicates that the domestic endoscopic robot has the ability to operate complex lesions in narrow anatomical space, and we will continue to promote productization with high standards, which will bring the 'beam of hope' to lives of more patients just as the name Toumai implies.

Dr Luo Qiyi, Chief Technology Officer of MicroPort® and Chairman of Microport^® Medbot, said: "I believe that in the near future, with the certification and marketization of domestic endoscopic robot products, while popularizing the international cutting-edge clinical technology and promoting the development of domestic related industries, the national medical expenditure and the economic burden of patients will be reduced significantly. As a leader of high-end innovative medical solutions, MicroPort^® will continue to expand its business field of medical robots and provide integrated solutions to patients and doctors in China and even around the world in the field of robot-assisted microport solutions."