Surgeon in Shanghai, patient in Pleven: Intercontinental robotic operation
The rector of the Medical University of Pleven used a robot to operate from Shanghai on a patient in Bulgaria more than 8,000 kilometres away.
Symbolic image · Photo: Navy Medicine / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Doctors in Pleven have carried out an intercontinental robotic operation. As BNT reported, Prof. Dobromir Dimitrov, rector of the Medical University of Pleven, on 20 October operated from a specialist console in Shanghai on a patient in an operating theatre in Pleven, more than 8,000 kilometres away. The university, its Leonardo da Vinci Centre of Competence and the oncological surgery department of the Dr Georgi Stranski University Hospital took part.
The team repaired a left inguinal hernia using a minimally invasive robotic technique (TAPP), with the Toumai surgical system made by China's MicroPort MedBot. Dimitrov performed the main stages remotely: dissection, mesh placement and suturing of the peritoneum. A team stood ready at the patient's side in Pleven to take over if needed, including surgeons Assoc. Prof. Martin Karamanliev and Assoc. Prof. Polina Marinova. According to the report, the procedure marks a significant step for telesurgery. No details were given on signal delay or the length of the operation.