The surgeon was in London. The patient was in Gibraltar. Between them, about 1,500 miles and a robotic system that carried out a prostate cancer operation in what The London Clinic says is the first successful remote robot-assisted telesurgery on a patient by a UK hospital.
Doctors at The London Clinic remotely guided a robotic system to remove a man’s prostate cancer while he stayed in an operating room at St Bernard’s Hospital in Gibraltar. The surgeon, Professor Prokar Dasgupta, controlled the procedure from a robotic console at The London Clinic’s robotic centre at Harley Street.
The system used for the operation was the Toumai robotic surgical system, developed by MicroPort MedBot. It is designed for high-precision minimally invasive procedures. From the console in London, Dasgupta controlled four robotic surgical arms, a high-definition 3D camera and specialised surgical tools.
A secure network infrastructure designed by Presidio connected the two hospitals. Fiber optic networks carried the surgeon’s movements from London to the robot in Gibraltar. The delay between command and movement was about 48 milliseconds, a speed the report says is fast enough to feel almost real-time.
That matters in delicate procedures such as prostate cancer surgery. Urological surgeons James Allen and Paul Hughes were part of the local surgical team in Gibraltar and were ready to step in if the connection dropped or complications occurred. The operation went smoothly.
The patient was Paul Buxton, a 62-year-old Gibraltar resident who has lived there for about four decades. Patients who need specialised prostate cancer surgery often travel to larger medical centres such as London or Madrid. According to the report, that can mean long waiting lists, travel costs and weeks away from home.
Buxton received the procedure in his local hospital instead. He had originally planned to travel to London for surgery, but was offered the chance to take part in a telesurgery trial between the two hospitals earlier in February. Reports say he felt fantastic within days and was able to recover close to home.
The operation is part of a much longer development in remote robotic surgery. One of the earliest examples was the Lindbergh Operation, in which surgeons in New York remotely removed a patient’s gallbladder in Strasbourg, France.
The report says technology has improved dramatically since then. It points to recent cross-continent robotic surgeries between Rome and Beijing, and long-distance prostate operations using the same Toumai platform in parts of Africa. In that context, the London Clinic procedure marks a move from experimental demonstrations toward practical medical use.
The hospital plans to demonstrate the technology again by live-streaming a telesurgery procedure to thousands of surgeons at the upcoming European Association of Urology Congress.
Several technologies made the operation possible. Ultra-low latency networks let surgeons see and react during surgery with very little delay. Modern fiber optic networks and backup 5G connections help keep latency extremely low, according to the report.
Robotic surgical systems translate a surgeon’s hand movements into smaller and steadier movements inside the patient’s body. The report says that precision often improves outcomes in delicate procedures such as prostate cancer removal.
Advanced imaging also plays a part. High-definition 3D cameras give surgeons a clear view of the surgical area. In many cases, the report says, the view from a robotic console is clearer than what surgeons see in traditional open surgery.
The report also says remote robotic surgery still faces major hurdles. Hospitals need extremely reliable networks with almost no downtime. Robotic surgical systems and specialised networks can cost millions of dollars. Regulation also raises legal and licensing questions when surgeons operate across borders.
Each remote procedure also needs a backup plan. Local surgical teams must be ready to step in if the technology fails. For now, the report says hospitals treat telesurgery as an emerging capability rather than a routine practice.
It also says the longer-term effect for patients could be significant. Instead of travelling to a major medical centre for complex procedures, patients may be able to stay in a hospital closer to home while a specialist operates remotely. The report says that it could help people in rural communities and regions with limited access to specialists.
📸 credit: MicroPort® Medbot®
