China News Service, Dalian, November 7 (Reporter Yang Yi) On November 6, at the People's Hospital of Nagqu, Tibet, at an altitude of more than 4,500 meters, a 5G remote radical left nephrectomy operation using a domestic surgical robot, which lasted one hour, was successfully completed. A Tibetan injured in the earthquake disaster in Nagqubaqing County was accidentally diagnosed with a kidney tumor during the earthquake trauma treatment. Relying on Liaoning's medical aid to Tibet, the medical teams in Dalian and Nagqu worked closely together. Professor Liu Zhiyu, the leader of the urology department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, performed the remote nephrectomy successfully with the help of domestic surgical robots and 5G remote technology.
The picture shows Professor Liu Zhiyu (first from left) operating a domestic robot to perform remote surgery. Photo by Yang Yi
The patient is Gaji (pseudonym), a 58-year-old Tibetan villager in Maru Township, Baqing County. He suffered trauma during the local earthquake disaster. The left side of his forehead was smashed and there was a skin and soft tissue laceration of about 3 cm. He was rushed to Suoxian People's Hospital for treatment of earthquake casualties. During the CT examination after the earthquake trauma, the doctor unexpectedly discovered that the patient had a space-occupying lesion on the left kidney. After on-site expert evaluation, the kidney tumor required surgical treatment as soon as possible. For further systematic diagnosis and treatment, the patient was transferred to the First Department of Surgery of Nagqu People's Hospital on October 28 for hospitalization.
After admission, Ye Fulin, the local doctor in charge of Nagqu, under the guidance of Professor Wang Yanlong, an expert in aiding Tibet from the Second Hospital of the University, completed a comprehensive preoperative evaluation including a full set of examinations, chest CT, heart and blood vessel ultrasound, and three-dimensional reconstruction of the kidneys. After examination, the patient was diagnosed with a left kidney tumor (cT1N0M0), combined with double pneumonia, right lung nodules, and cystitis. The soft tissue damage to the forehead caused by the earthquake has healed.
In the operating room of Nagqu People's Hospital, Professor Wang Yanlong (first from right) assists in remote robot surgery. Photo courtesy of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University
Previously, Professor Liu Zhiyu’s team from the Second Hospital of the University of Medical Sciences collaborated with Professor Wang Yanlong to complete the first domestic robot remote surgery at Nagqu People’s Hospital, successfully verifying the feasibility of the high-altitude 5G remote surgery system. With previous successful experiences, the teams from both places once again overcame the difficulties and formulated a personalized surgical plan for Gaji. Experts from the two places held multiple remote consultations, studied the patient's image data frame by frame, repeatedly deduced the surgical path, and refined emergency plans one by one for various emergencies such as intraoperative bleeding, network delays, sudden equipment failures, and fluctuations in vital signs related to the patient's plateau, and clarified the handling process and personnel division of labor.
The patient's surgery was successfully completed. Photo courtesy of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University
The surgery officially started on the afternoon of November 6. Professor Liu Zhiyu in Dalian controlled the main console and received high-definition surgery footage from the Nagqu operating room in real time through a stable 5G network. The renal blood vessels and tumor boundaries were clearly presented. In the operating room of Naqu, 4,000 kilometers away, Wang Yanlong led the local team to cooperate at the patient's bedside, responsible for exposure of the surgical field, tissue retraction, and real-time feedback of the patient's vital signs. The teams from the two places traveled across mountains and seas to achieve tacit collaboration as if they were in the same room and on the same stage. Professor Liu Zhiyu remotely controlled the robotic arm to finely separate the tissue, process the renal pedicle blood vessels, free and completely remove the affected kidney, and suture the incision. He accurately controlled every step of the operation and strictly controlled the risk of bleeding. The operation was successfully completed, and the patient was stable during the operation and recovered well after the operation. (over)
