New Delhi: In a major breakthrough for remote healthcare and robotic surgery, Indian urologist Dr Syed Mohammad Ghouse has successfully performed a surgery on a patient in Hyderabad while sitting nearly 3,000 kilometres away in Wuhan, China. The rare medical procedure has drawn attention for combining advanced robotic technology with high speed 5G connectivity.
According to the report, the procedure was a ureteral reimplantation surgery, in which the ureter, the tube that carries urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder, is reconnected to the bladder. The operation was carried out with the help of a robotic system developed in China and supported by a high speed 5G network. The entire surgery lasted around 90 minutes.
The achievement was also shared on social media platform X by Yu Jing, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India. She said Indian urologist Dr Syed Mohammad Ghouse successfully completed a robot assisted surgery on a patient in Hyderabad from Wuhan in just 90 minutes.
Before the operation began, doctors in Wuhan and Hyderabad jointly reviewed the patient’s medical reports through an online consultation. The movement of the robotic arms was then planned carefully. In Hyderabad, the local medical team administered anaesthesia to the patient and prepared the robotic system inside the operation theatre.
The robotic setup included highly precise surgical instruments and high definition 3D cameras. These cameras sent live visuals from Hyderabad to Wuhan, allowing Dr Ghouse to monitor the surgery in real time. Sitting at a control console at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, he guided the robotic arms throughout the operation.
The report said the doctor’s commands reached Hyderabad in just 200 milliseconds, or 0.2 seconds, due to the 5G network. This minimal delay allowed the robotic arms to almost instantly replicate the surgeon’s hand movements, helping maintain accuracy and control despite the long distance.
A team of doctors remained present inside the operation theatre in Hyderabad throughout the procedure and was ready to respond immediately in case of any emergency.
The surgery was one of 26 procedures showcased during the 10th Congress of the Chinese chapter of the International Hepato Pancreato Biliary Association. The event also featured live international remote surgeries involving specialists from India, Brazil, Georgia, Greece and Uzbekistan.
Chen Xiaoping, director of the surgery department at Tongji Hospital, said artificial intelligence, robotics and next generation communication technologies are rapidly transforming healthcare systems across the world.
The successful operation highlights how remote robotic surgery could help bridge geographical gaps in specialised healthcare, especially when expert surgeons are not physically available near the patient.