Florida Surgeon Removes Cancerous Prostate From 35 Miles Away in First US Telerobotic Operation

A Florida surgeon has carried out what officials describe as the first telerobotic operation between two hospitals in the United States, removing a cancerous prostate while located 35 miles from the patient.

Dr Vipul Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration, near Orlando, performed the investigational robotic prostatectomy on Sunday. The patient was a 66-year-old man identified only as Mark, who had volunteered for a clinical study testing a robotic telesurgery system.

Mark was at an AdventHealth facility in Minneola, Florida, while Patel worked the controls from another AdventHealth site in the community of Celebration. Marcio Moschovas, a surgeon and co-principal investigator on the study, was with the patient in Minneola to provide support throughout the procedure, according to an AdventHealth news release. The health system told ABC that Mark was recovering well.

The operation was conducted as part of a research study under an investigational device exemption approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That authorization allows the system to be studied, but it is not the same as FDA approval or clearance.

Sunday's surgery followed 10 investigational telesurgeries performed between Orlando and Luanda, Angola. AdventHealth said the Florida procedure marked the study's expansion into US hospitals.

"For generations, access to highly specialized care has often depended on where a patient lives," said a statement attributed to Patel. It continued: "This study allows us to evaluate whether telesurgery could one day help reduce geographic barriers to specialized treatment."

Telesurgery lets surgeons control robotic instruments from a distance, though researchers are still assessing its safety, reliability and cybersecurity. AdventHealth said it knew of no earlier reports of a telesurgery between two US locations. It also cautioned that Sunday's operation did not establish how the technology performs in general clinical use.

Robotic prostatectomy already carries risks, including bleeding, infection, incontinence and erectile dysfunction, as well as the possibility of switching to open surgery. Telesurgery adds further concerns such as equipment or connection failures and cybersecurity threats. For that reason, an on-site team must be ready to take over if needed.

The Florida operation came only months after another widely reported procedure, in which a surgeon in London used a four-armed robot with a 3D camera to remove a man's prostate in Gibraltar, about 1,500 miles away. That surgery was successful, with a delay of just 0.06 seconds between the surgeon's movements and the robot's response.