Singapore and Japan Clinician-Scientists Collaborate on Groundbreaking Telesurgery Trial Spanning over 5,000km
Published: 11 Oct 2023
[From left] Prof Koichi Suda, Prof Ichiro Uyama, Dr Kim Guowei and Prof Jimmy So (seated) are the four gastric surgeons leading the gastrectomy demonstration, a collaboration between NUS Medicine, NUH and Fujita Health University. (Photo Credit: National University Health System)
In a sterile operating room in Nagoya, Japan, robotic arms move with astonishing precision as they prepare to perform a complex laparoscopic surgical procedure.
What makes this scenario truly remarkable is the surprise twist—it’s not the surgical team in Nagoya controlling these robotic arms.
Instead, they are being orchestrated by surgeons located over 5,000km away in the Advanced Surgery Training Centre at Singapore’s National University Hospital (NUH), the teaching hospital of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine).
Surgeons from NUH and FHU demonstrating how the console unit in Singapore controls the four robotic arms in Nagoya, Japan. (Photo Credit: National University Health System)
Leveraging Japan’s first surgical robot, clinician-scientists from NUH and NUS Medicine performed a gastrectomy (stomach surgery performed for cancer) from a surgeon cockpit in Singapore. The surgeons’ movements were transmitted, directed, and replicated by a robotic operation unit located in Japan via a dedicated international fibre-optic network, all performed on a simulated organ.
Tapping on FHU’s vast expertise in robotic surgery, this latest project aims to evaluate, clarify and address the potential issues arising from such remote surgeries.
The preclinical trial – involving a series of complex gastrectomy procedures conducted by both teams – aims to prove that long-distance robotic telesurgery for technically demanding procedures can be safely conducted using a robotic system connected by high-speed fiber-optic communication.
The two gastric surgeons leading the demonstration in Singapore are Professor Jimmy So from the Department of Surgery, NUS Medicine, and Senior Consultant in the Department of Surgery, NUH, as well as Assistant Professor Kim Guowei from the Department of Surgery, NUS Medicine, and Consultant in the Department of Surgery at the NUH.
In Japan, the surgical team is led by Professor Ichiro Uyama and Professor Koichi Suda from Fujita Health University.
Professor Jimmy So, who led the surgical team in Singapore, said, “Remote telesurgery offers immense potential to enhance global access to specialised care, reduce travel and wait times for patients, minimise health risks during emergencies and pandemics, and foster training and collaboration among medical professionals worldwide. It also contributes to improved surgical expertise for complex cases, particularly benefiting under-served areas.”
Read more in the media release.
