An investigational robotic operation linked two Florida hospitals on Oct. 25, with a surgeon controlling the procedure from 35 miles away as researchers examined whether remote surgery can widen access to specialized care.
Study principal investigator Vipul Patel, MD, operated at AdventHealth Celebration. The 66-year-old patient, who had prostate cancer and volunteered for the clinical study, was at AdventHealth Minneola with co-principal investigator and surgeon Marcio Moschovas, MD, and an on-site team. AdventHealth said the hospitals were about 35 miles apart.
Patel used the Toumai surgical system from MicroPort MedBot. The procedure was conducted under an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the study. An IDE allows a medical device to be investigated in a clinical study; the authorization is not FDA approval or clearance of the system for this use.
The study is tracking surgical outcomes, safety and effectiveness, as well as network performance, cybersecurity, alarms, contingency performance and operational workflows. The assessment includes how alarms and fallback procedures perform during the operation. AdventHealth said trained staff, backup systems and contingency plans were in place at the patient’s hospital. It cautioned that one case cannot show how the system performs generally.
AdventHealth said the U.S. study follows 10 earlier investigational telesurgeries linking Orlando with Luanda, Angola. Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration, said researchers are examining whether remote operating could ease geographic barriers to specialized care. The health system lists potential added risks such as equipment or connectivity failure, cybersecurity threats and the need for the local team to take control.
AdventHealth said its review of published evidence found no earlier account of robotic telesurgery between U.S. locations. Patel said, “Important questions about safety, effectiveness and technical performance remain under investigation.” The announcement gave no date for the next study milestone.
