A surgeon in London has carried out what is being described as the United Kingdom’s first long-distance robotic operation on a patient located approximately 1,500 miles (2,400km) away.
Professor Prokar Dasgupta, a leading robotic urological surgeon, performed a prostate removal procedure on 62-year-old Paul Buxton. Dasgupta said the experience felt “almost as if I was there” despite operating remotely.
The operation was controlled from The London Clinic using a robotic system equipped with a 3D HD camera and four mechanical arms. Dasgupta operated the robot through a console with a delay of just 0.06 seconds.
The console in the UK was linked via fibre-optic cables to a robot located in Gibraltar, with a backup 5G connection in place. A medical team in Gibraltar remained on standby in case of technical failure, but the connection remained stable throughout the procedure.
Buxton, who received a prostate cancer diagnosis shortly after Christmas, had expected to join an NHS waiting list. Instead, he volunteered for the remote procedure as part of a trial. He said he chose to participate to contribute to medical progress.
Dasgupta is scheduled to repeat the procedure on 14 March, with the operation set to be live-streamed to 20,000 urological surgeons attending the European Association of Urology congress.
The development comes as the UK’s National Health Service prioritizes robotic-assisted surgery, with a goal of reaching 500,000 robot-supported operations annually by 2035.
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