Florida surgeon removes prostate from 35 miles away in first U.S. telerobotic surgery between hospitals
A Florida surgeon removed a 66-year-old man’s prostate from 35 miles away in what AdventHealth called the first telerobotic operation between two U.S. hospitals, part of an FDA-authorized clinical study.
Dr. Vipul Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration in suburban Orlando, performed the investigational robotic prostatectomy on Sunday. The patient, identified as Mark, was at an AdventHealth facility in Minneola, Florida. Patel operated remotely from another AdventHealth facility in Celebration. Study co-principal investigator and surgeon Dr. Marcio Moschovas provided onsite support to Mark during the procedure, according to an AdventHealth news release.
Mark was recovering well after the procedure, AdventHealth told ABC.
The surgery was part of a clinical research study conducted under a Food and Drug Administration-approved investigational device exemption. Such an authorization permits the system to be studied but does not constitute FDA approval or clearance.
The procedure came after 10 investigational telesurgeries between Orlando, Florida, and Luanda, Angola, and marked the study’s expansion into U.S. hospitals, AdventHealth said.
“For generations, access to highly specialized care has often depended on where a patient lives,” a statement attributed to Patel said. “This study allows us to evaluate whether telesurgery could one day help reduce geographic barriers to specialized treatment.”
Telesurgery allows surgeons to control robotic instruments remotely, but researchers are still evaluating its safety, reliability and cybersecurity. AdventHealth said no previous reports had documented a telesurgery procedure between two U.S. locations and cautioned that Sunday’s surgery does not establish the technology’s general clinical performance.
Robotic prostatectomy carries risks including bleeding, infection, incontinence and erectile dysfunction, as well as the possibility of switching to open surgery. Telesurgery adds risks such as equipment or connection failures and cybersecurity threats, making it essential for an on-site team to take over if needed.
Sunday’s procedure in Florida followed a similar operation months earlier, when a surgeon in London used a four-armed robot equipped with a 3D camera to remove a man’s prostate in Gibraltar, about 1,500 miles away. That surgery was successful, with a lag of 0.06 seconds between the surgeon’s movements and the robot’s response.