Groundbreaking remote surgery performed 9,000 km away using video game controller

In a significant medical advancement, researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) and the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have successfully conducted a teleoperated magnetic endoscopy surgery.

The procedure involved taking a biopsy from the stomach wall of a swine model, with the operation being remotely controlled from a location over 9,000 kilometers away.

The surgery was a collaborative effort between a clinician physically present in an operating room in Hong Kong and a specialist stationed in Zurich, Switzerland. Utilizing advanced technology, the remote expert in Zurich controlled the endoscopic device using a video game controller from an operator console.

This innovative approach demonstrates the potential for providing specialized surgical care in remote or underserved areas where access to expert medical professionals is limited.

The findings of this pioneering study were published in the peer-reviewed open-access journal Advanced Intelligent Systems.

Dr. Shannon Melissa Chan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at CU Medicine, highlighted the implications of the technology: "Teleoperated endoscopy not only enables remote surgical training and mentorship but also allows for immediate diagnostic and surgical interventions in areas lacking local expertise. Remote experts can even guide trained nurses through procedures. As endoscopic technology becomes more widespread, millions globally could receive timely diagnoses and treatments for gastrointestinal cancers."

Echoing the sentiment, Professor Dr. Bradley Nelson, Director of the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab and Head of the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich, stated, "Our next phase involves performing tele-endoscopy on the human stomach. Beyond endoscopic procedures like cancer screening, this technology holds vast potential for applications in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, the neurovascular system, and even fetal surgery."

In the experimental procedure, a magnetic endoscope controlled by an external magnetic field was tested on a sedated pig.

The surgeon in Zurich maneuvered the endoscope using a video game controller, successfully executing a U-turn and obtaining a stomach biopsy with a latency of less than 300 milliseconds. Previous tests have also utilized similar game controllers. This success suggests that remote surgeries - even in challenging environments like space - could become a reality in the near future, greatly benefiting patients in isolated regions.