Intuitive Surgical is showing off the remote capability of its robots, with a transatlantic demonstration hosted by the Society of Robotic Surgery conference being held this week in Strasbourg, France.
The company said two surgeons, located 4,000 miles apart, were able to hand off control of a single da Vinci 5 system in real-time. That included transmitting the robot’s force feedback features, allowing a U.S. operator to feel how the instruments were interacting with the tissue model on stage in Europe.
“Telesurgery is an area Intuitive has been thoughtfully innovating in for many years,” Intuitive CEO Dave Rosa said at the SRS conference. “It is a capability that has the potential to improve patient access to minimally invasive care, but its success depends on careful development in several areas.”
“At Intuitive, we’ve built robotic surgical technology from the ground up and our focus has always been patient safety and delivering real value—not technology for technology’s sake,” added Rosa, who took on the role of chief earlier this month after decades with the company.
“Telesurgery is just one part of our telecollaboration suite, which includes telementoring, teleproctoring, and dual console surgery, that can help clinical teams to improve outcomes and reduce the total cost of care,” he said. “It’s exciting to see progress, but we’re clear there’s still a long way to go.”
The demonstration included Andrea Pakula, medical director of robotic surgery at Adventist Health in California, working the controls remotely from Peachtree Corners in Georgia. Doug Stoddard, director of surgery and robotics at Christus Health in Texas, was on-site in Strasbourg alongside the robot.
According to the company, the procedure has a historical precedent. The first transatlantic telesurgery between the U.S. and France was also performed in Strasbourg, with a live gallbladder removal in 2001 through a project known as Operation Lindbergh, after the ocean-crossing aviator. That surgery involved an early da Vinci ancestor, the Zeus robotic system, before its developer, Computer Motion, was acquired by Intuitive in 2003.
“While not a new idea for Intuitive, telesurgery requires a high-performing network infrastructure and a robotic system designed for remote collaboration to be successful and sustainable. Our focus is not on being first but on being rigorous in building the infrastructure to support safety, reliability, and consistent use,” said Brian Miller, Intuitive’s chief digital officer, who worked as an engineer on Operation Lindbergh.