In a first for the United States, a remote surgical operation using a robotic system has been performed in Florida, with the doctor located dozens of kilometers from the patient, infohub.kz reports.
The procedure was carried out by Dr. Vipul Patel, medical director of the AdventHealth Global Robotics Institute. The surgeon controlled high-precision manipulators from an operating center in Celebration, while the 66-year-old patient named Mark, who has prostate cancer, was at a hospital in Minneola — about 56 kilometers away.
Throughout the procedure, Dr. Patel fully controlled the movements of the robotic instruments via a specialized console connected to the operating room through secure communication channels. To ensure the patient's complete safety, a medical team was on standby in the Minneola operating room, ready to intervene immediately in case of technical failure or signal loss.
The surgery was performed for research purposes as part of clinical trials of telesurgery. The medical center emphasized that a single successful case does not mean automatic approval of the technology by regulatory authorities, but such experience opens the way to complex operations for residents of remote regions — without the need for exhausting trips to major medical centers.