To evaluate the feasibility of remote robotic surgery under 5G network through animal experiment.

The surgeon console and the bedside cart of the domestic Kangduo robotic system were separated and 50 kilometers apart from each other. With the 5G network interconnection jointly developed by Huawei Technologies Company and China Unicom, the surgeons remotely control the bedside cart for animal experiments to test the stability and safety of remote surgery.

On Dec.18, 2018, the experiment was successfully completed in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. The surgeon remotely controlled two robotic arms (bipolar coagulation and electrocoagulation hooks) and the lens arm, and successfully completed the wedge resection of the pig liver. The resected specimen was about 2 cm×2 cm×3 cm. The whole animal experiment took about 60 minutes and the bleeding was about 5 ml. The intraoperative high-definition 3D image and sound transmission were instantaneous and stable. The bedside robot arms were smooth and flexible. The master-slave motion tracking and mapping were correct and good. The average delay time from the actuator end motion command to the motion of robotic arms end was less than 150 ms. The robot system did not show any malfunction in software or hardware throughout the experimental process.

This animal experiment was the first attempt of 5G remote surgery in the world. The results preliminarily showed that the 5G remote domestic robot surgery technology was feasible. The application of remote surgery will effectively solve the contradiction between the current imbalance of supply and demand of medical resources, achieve the general application of high-quality medical resources, narrow the gap between different grades of medical resources, effectively reduce medical expenses, reduce the economic burden of patients, and have great significance for wartime medical rescue.

Minimally invasive surgery; Robot; Telesurgery; Network delay; 5G network