‘Satellite surgeons’ could change the face of medicine. Chinese doctors have performed a series of ‘remote surgeries’ using a high-powered satellite.
They were able to operate despite being thousands of kilometers from their patients.
CGTN’s Michael Marillier explains.
#tech #surgery #medicine
They were able to operate despite being thousands of kilometers from their patients.
CGTN’s Michael Marillier explains.
#tech #surgery #medicine
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NewsTranscript
00:00It's remote working on a whole new level. Doctors at the People's Liberation Army
00:07Hospital conducted five operations in total. The patients were in Beijing but
00:12the surgeons were thousands of kilometers away in three different
00:16cities. They used a robotic system to perform procedures involving the liver,
00:21pancreas and gallbladder. That system relied on a high-speed satellite. The
00:27surgeons movements would be translated into data which would be sent up to the
00:32satellite, then down to the robotic system working on the patient. Feedback
00:37data would then be sent in the opposite direction. All in all the data would
00:42travel nearly 150,000 kilometers. And yet the surgeons could do their jobs as if
00:49they were in the same room as their patients. The technology could connect
00:53patients with surgeons in ways we've never seen before. For example it's
00:58possible that doctors could treat injured soldiers without going anywhere
01:03near the front line. But it's important to remember patients can't undergo these
01:08operations just anywhere. They would still need to be in a facility with
01:12sophisticated infrastructure. There may be some way to go but these operations
01:18suggest that one day a satellite surgeon could save someone's life.