Imagine being operated on while your doctor is 1,400 kilometers away

• Courtesy of Cotabato Regional and Medical Center

Imagine undergoing surgery in Cotabato City while the doctor operating on you is more than 1,400 kilometers away in Pampanga.

That became a reality as the Philippines successfully conducted its first long-distance telesurgery, marking a milestone in the use of robotic technology in the country’s healthcare system.

Telesurgery, also known as remote surgery, allows a surgeon to perform an operation on a patient from a different location using robotic surgical equipment connected through a high-speed communications network. The surgeon controls the robotic arms remotely while receiving real-time video from the operating room.

Surgeons from the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) and Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH) in Pampanga performed two robotic cholecystectomy procedures using the SSI Mantra robotic surgical system.

During the first procedure at 8 a.m., the patient was at CRMC in Cotabato City while the surgeon conducted the operation remotely from JBLMGH in Pampanga.

A second procedure followed at 1 p.m., this time with the setup reversed. The surgeon was based at CRMC while the patient was at JBLMGH.

“Ang sarap sa pakiramdam na ‘yung ino-operahan natin ay 1,400 kilometers away. So this really a good start for JBL and CRMC,” said Dr. Al-Jazzer M. Angas, training officer of CRMC’s Department of Surgery.

Using the robotic surgery system, the surgeon operates from a workstation equipped with 3D high-definition screens and hand controls, directing robotic mechanical arms positioned beside the patient.

The system uses a secure, high-speed fiber optic or 5G connection to transmit real-time video and control signals during the operation, according to CRMC.

Angas said robotic surgery can also offer advantages over conventional surgery.

“I can say that robotic surgery is safer than traditional or conventional surgery kasi marami siyang kumbaga back up,” Angas said.

Among the patients who underwent the pioneering procedure was Arbaya Abdullah Taup, who expressed gratitude to the doctors and highlighted the technology’s impact on her operation.

“Alhamdulillah, pagkatapos akong maoperahan ng mga doktor ay wala rin akong naramdamang sakit. Alhamdulillah, kasi malaking tulong ang pag-opera sa akin gamit ang robotic surgery,” Taup said.

The Philippine milestone comes 25 years after Operation Lindbergh, the landmark procedure that demonstrated long-distance telesurgery across the Atlantic.

On Sept. 7, 2001, a team led by French surgeon Professor Jacques Marescaux performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a 68-year-old woman in Strasbourg, France, while the surgeons operated from New York. The procedure used the ZEUS robotic system and a high-speed telecommunications network.