On April 10, 2022, in the telemedicine center, the team led by Professor Ji Zhigang, Director of the Department of Urology, PUMCH, cooperated with Professor Li Xuesong, who was in the operating room of Peking University First Hospital 6 kilometers away, to complete the first remote pyeloplasty with real-time interaction between different parties in China aided by the domestic KangDuo surgical robot powered by “5G+ fixed network and private line” across operators and domains. The patient recovered well after the operation.

Professor Ji Zhigang explained that there was only one console for robot-assisted remote surgeries in the past, which meant that in the case of an unexpected or abnormal situation during the operation, the surgeon’s team, who were far away from the patient, would not be able to handle it on the spot, which would easily cause medical risks. The innovation about this surgery is that it used two consoles, one for Professor Ji Zhigang who was away from the patient and one for Professor Li Xuesong who was with the patient. During the operation, the control can be transferred to realize collaborative remote interaction between different parties in real time. Under this mode, the local surgical team can perform the operation under the careful observation and real-time supervision of the remote surgical team and hand over the difficult part to it. This way, the local team gains experience and improvement faster and surgical risks are lowered. The telesurgery controlled in real time by different parties is expected to play an important role in telemedicine assistance, and promote the Healthy China strategy of moving medical resources towards the primary level. The successful implementation of this remote operation indicates that the prospect of applying “Internet + healthcare” will be brighter and that high-quality medical resources will become more accessible.

Professor Ji Zhigang (middle) performed telesurgery in the telemedicine center of PUMCH

Professor Li Xuesong’s team was performing the surgery in the operating room of Peking University First Hospital

Written by: The Department of Urology

Picture courtesy: Sun Liang

Translator: Liu Haiyan

Editor: Fan Hua and Wang Yao