Robotic surgery performed remotely from the U.S. on a patient in Africa

A robotic prostatectomy surgery was performed remotely from Florida on a patient in Angola as part of an FDA-approved clinical trial.

“We will operate from the United States to Africa in an FDA-approved clinical trial. We’ll be performing a robotic prostatectomy for a man in Angola who otherwise would not have access to high-end surgical care,” said Dr. Vip Patel, a Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth.

The robotic system is connected to multiple locations around the world, including Sao Paulo, Kuwait, Morocco, Shanghai, and Angola, allowing for the potential to provide medical care globally from a single location.

“Yeah, people have operated at a distance before and telesurgery is becoming more and more common, but it’s never been done in this way, at this distance. Never from the United States to Africa and never where it’s been approved by a legal agency like the FDA,” said said Dr. Vip Patel.

The procedure performed at AdventHealth Global Robotics Institute could significantly impact global healthcare by providing advanced surgical options to patients in underserved regions that would otherwise lack access to advanced medical care.