Indian-origin urologist performs remote robotic surgery on Hyderabad patient in 90 minutes from 3,000 km away in China

In a medical milestone achieved by India and China, a surgeon performed a surgery in Hyderabad while sitting in Wuhan. On Monday afternoon, a doctor at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan's Hubei province, remotely conducted a robotic surgery on a patient about 3,000 km away.

Syed Mohammed Ghouse, a urologist from India, performed a bladder reconnection surgery within a whopping 90 minutes using technology developed in China. The procedure relied on precise coordination among doctors, surgical robots and network technology, as per the hospital which is affiliated to the Tongji Medical College of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

The development was highlighted in a post on X by the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, Yu Jing, who said, "Indian urologist Dr. Syed Mohammed Ghouse, stationed in Wuhan, successfully performed a robot-assisted ureteral reimplantation in just 90 minutes on a patient 3,000 km away in Hyderabad, India--thanks to China-developed robotics and 5G technology. Life-saving care, transcending borders."

The surgical feat

First, Ghouse and the local medical team in India checked the patient's medical examination data online and worked out a surgery plan, including the movement route of a set of robotic arms.

Then, doctors and nurses in the operating room administered anaesthesia to the patient and inserted the robotic arms into the patient's body. Fine surgical instruments and high-definition 3D cameras are fitted at the ends of the arms.

Seated at a console in Tongji Hospital, Ghouse observed real-time, magnified high-definition 3D images transmitted from the operating room through a binocular-style viewer, his hands working a set of controls that looked akin to an arcade machine. From this position, he guided the arms through the surgery. The robotic arms replicated the doctor's movements inside the patient's body. 5G transmitted the instructions within 200 milliseconds.

The local medical staff stood by in the operating room to take over the surgery in case of emergencies.

The operation marked one of the 26 surgeries staged during the 10th Congress of the Chinese Chapter of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. Among them, five surgeries were connected live with foreign counterparts. Surgical experts from Brazil, Georgia, Greece, Uzbekistan, and India delivered remote surgical demonstrations covering hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, urology, and other fields.

Chen Xiaoping, director of the surgery department at Tongji Hospital, is one of the initiators of this innovative model. He stated that a new technological revolution driven by AI, 5G and 6G communications, and robot technology is deeply integrating with the healthcare industry.