A British surgeon has successfully performed a remote robotic prostatectomy on a patient in Gibraltar, 1,500 miles away. The operation, described as a milestone for telesurgery, was carried out by Professor Prokar Dasgupta from London's Harley Street district using a four-armed robot equipped with a 3D camera.
The patient, 62-year-old Paul Buxton, a football fan originally from Somerset who moved to Gibraltar 40 years ago, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent the procedure at St Bernard's Hospital in Gibraltar, where the Toumai Robotic System, made by Microport, was operated by Dasgupta via a console in London. The time lag between the surgeon's commands and the robot's actions was just 0.06 seconds.
Buxton, who said he felt 'fantastic' within days, described the decision to participate as a 'no-brainer'. He noted that without telesurgery, he would have had to travel to London and join an NHS waiting list, potentially staying in the UK for three weeks. 'It's been a privilege to be part of medical history,' he said.
Professor Dasgupta, who heads The London Clinic's robotic centre of excellence, said the surgery 'went extremely well'. The connection between London and Gibraltar used fibre optics with a backup 5G link, and a surgical team was on standby in Gibraltar in case of any issues. Dasgupta highlighted the humanitarian potential of remote surgery, particularly for patients in remote areas who face significant travel burdens.
Dasgupta is scheduled to repeat the procedure on 14 March, with 20,000 surgeons watching via livestream at the European Association of Urology congress.
