Global Robotics Institute’s Dr. Vipul Patel Leads Six Successful Prostatectomy Procedures, Including Africa’s First Remote Robotic Surgeries via the Toumai™ System at Cardeal Hospital in Luanda.
MicroPort® MedBotTM (HKSE:2252) announced that the company successfully completed 6 robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy procedures in the Republic of Angola. The surgical cases were performed by Dr. Vipul Patel, a world-renowned robotic urologist surgeon for his contributions to the field of robotic-assisted surgery and one of the most experienced robotic surgeons in the world having personally performed over 18,000 robotic prostatectomies, and his surgical team based out of the Global Robotics Institute at AdVent Health in Celebration, Florida, in the United States of America. The urology surgeries were performed at Complexo Hospitalar de Doenças Cardio-Pulmonar Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento (Cardeal) which is located in the city of Luanda and has been established as a national health reference center for Angola.
From these 6 successful surgical cases and for the first time in the sub-Sahara Africa region, two of the cases were performed remotely using ToumaiTM's telesurgery capability. Robotic telesurgery, also known as remote surgery, is a surgical procedure where a surgeon performs an operation on a patient remotely using a robot and telecom networking. For these telesurgery cases, the master robotic console and remote console were located in separate sites at the Cardeal hospital campus with the connection between the master and remote consoles utilizing only ToumaiTM's telesurgery console and Cardeal's in-house telecom network. The total latency time between the master and the remote systems for these robotic surgical cases was less than 6 milliseconds.
"My team came here to Angola to help the country for a great humanitarian purpose. The potential of robotics, remote surgery and education is the future of healthcare equity for countries such as Angola, " said Dr. Vipul Patel, "By being able to operate remotely, we have demonstrated for the first time in Africa the potential route for future humanitarian success. Today was proof of concept with our entire team here, we must proceed with caution and safety in the future."
A key feature of the ToumaiTM system is its telesurgery application, which holds transformative potential for the future of healthcare. Telesurgery allows surgeons to perform procedures remotely, leveraging high-speed data transfer and real-time communication. This capability is particularly crucial for extending specialized surgical care to underserved or remote areas, thereby bridging gaps in healthcare access. By enabling expert surgeons to guide complex operations from a distance, telesurgery not only enhances the reach of medical services but also ensures that patients in remote locations receive the highest standard of care. This innovative approach can significantly reduce disparities in healthcare access and improve outcomes across diverse populations. To date, ToumaiTM has successfully completed over 200 human robotic telesurgery cases globally.
"We are proud to participate in these landmark robot telesurgery cases to bring the ToumaiTM system to this region of the world," said Dr. He Chao, Founder and President of MicroPort® MedBotTM, "In time, we will look back on this date and this achievement and recognize that this was the foundational event for how the delivery of healthcare was revolutionized in Angola with ToumaiTM and the promise of telesurgery."
MicroPort® MedbotTM's ToumaiTM Surgical Robot System was specifically developed to improve outcomes and enhance operational efficiency for all surgical procedures. Designed with both surgeons and patients in mind, the ToumaiTM system integrates advanced robotics, high-definition 3D visualization, and intuitive control interfaces to offer an unprecedented level of precision and control for surgeons. ToumaiTM is currently approved to be used in urology, thoracic, general, gynecology, thyroid and breast, and pediatric surgeries. ToumaiTM is currently approved and commercially available in China, the European Union and other countries recognizing NMPA and CE Mark approvals.