Surgical Robot System with Telesurgery Capability to Revolutionize Healthcare Delivery

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 02 Dec 2024

Image: The Toumai system has successfully completed over 200 human robotic telesurgery cases globally (Photo courtesy of MicroPort Medbot)

Robotic telesurgery, or remote surgery, is a technique where a surgeon operates on a patient from a distance using a robot and telecommunication networks. This approach allows surgeons to conduct procedures remotely by utilizing high-speed data transmission and real-time communication. Telesurgery plays a vital role in delivering specialized surgical care to underserved or remote regions, helping bridge the gap in healthcare access. By enabling expert surgeons to perform complex surgeries from afar, it enhances the availability of medical services and ensures that patients in distant locations receive high-quality care. This groundbreaking method has the potential to reduce healthcare disparities and improve patient outcomes globally. Now, a telesurgery-enabled robotic system is advancing surgical procedures, improving patient outcomes, and increasing operational efficiency across various medical fields.

Designed with both surgeons and patients in mind, the Toumai surgical robot system from MicroPort Medbot (Shanghai, China) incorporates advanced robotics, high-definition 3D imaging, and user-friendly control interfaces, providing surgeons with unmatched precision and control during operations. A key feature of the Toumai system is its telesurgery capability, which could revolutionize the future of healthcare. The system consists of a surgeon console, a patient cart, and an image vehicle, enabling surgeons to operate from outside the sterile environment of the surgical area, thus minimizing their physical strain. By harnessing robotic technology, Toumai offers numerous benefits, including less invasive procedures, greater precision, improved stability, and enhanced safety.

To date, the Toumai system has successfully conducted over 200 robotic telesurgery procedures globally. Recently, the system was used to perform the sixth robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in the Republic of Angola. In a groundbreaking achievement for Sub-Saharan Africa, two of these surgeries were carried out remotely using the telesurgery feature of the Toumai system. For these procedures, the master and remote consoles were located in separate hospital sites, with the connection between them maintained through Toumai’s telesurgery console and the hospitals' internal telecom networks. The latency time between the master and remote systems was under six milliseconds. The Toumai system is currently approved for use in various medical fields, including urology, thoracic, general surgery, gynecology, thyroid and breast surgeries, and pediatric surgery. It is approved and commercially available in China, the European Union, and other countries that recognize NMPA and CE Mark certifications.

"We are proud to participate in these landmark robot telesurgery cases to bring the ToumaiTM system to this region of the world," said Dr. He Chao, Founder and President of MicroPort® MedBotTM, "In time, we will look back on this date and this achievement and recognize that this was the foundational event for how the delivery of healthcare was revolutionized in Angola with ToumaiTM and the promise of telesurgery."

Related Links:
MicroPort Medbot