by Han Lu

 

 

XINJIANG, Jun.21, (China Economic Net)-On June 18, China accomplished the world's first-ever liver resection surgery using a domestically made 5G remote robot. Despite the vast distance of 4,600 kilometers, a team of medical professionals from Zhejiang and Xinjiang provinces collaborated through 5G remote robot and executed the entire surgery in a remarkable 40 minutes.

 

Leading the surgical team was Dr. Liang Xiao, a chief physician from the Department of General Surgery at Zhejiang University School of Medicine's Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. Assisting Dr. Liang in the procedure was Dr. Li Zheyong, the deputy director of the Department of General Surgery at the same hospital and the vice-president of Alar Hospital in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. 

 

The patient who underwent left hepatic lobe resection surgery, referred to as Ms. Zhang (pseudonym), is a local resident of Alar and in her early thirties. A large tumor measuring 8 centimeters was discovered in her left liver lobe.

 

“It took 40 minutes from the beginning to the end of the surgery, but the actual time spent on the liver resection was only 20 minutes. T throughout and after the surgery, there were no bleeding points on the surface of the liver, and the structures of the ducts were also handled with great precision.” Dr.Li Zheyong said. 

 

The patient's surgery was performed with China's first four-arm laparoscopic robot, which uses 5G technology for remote operations. Its core software and hardware are also manufactured in China. China performed its first 5G remote robot gallbladder surgery using this technology on February 16th of this year. 

 

Dr. Liang Xiao, the surgeon who’s in charge of both operations, explained that liver resection surgery is more challenging compared to gallbladder removal surgery due to the complex network of blood vessels and bile ducts within the liver tissue, which increases the risk of bleeding and bile leakage. It was critical to separate the blood vessels, bile ducts, and veins precisely in order to perform the surgery with greater accuracy and minimize complications.

 

"When performing the first case of 5G ultra-long distance robotic gallbladder removal surgery, I didn't feel any delay. " said Liang Xiao.