Virtual "5G airborne operating room" will be an effective solution to perform difficult surgeries across time and space

On February 3rd, 2024, with the assistance of 5G communication technology and robotic equipment made in China, the People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, China, and Friendship Hospital of Yili Province, China, in a virtual "5G airborne operating room" spanning 5,000 kilometers across China's Yili Prefecture and China's Jiangsu Province, successfully carried out two cases of percutaneous nephrolithotripsy under ultrasound-guided 5G remote robotic ultrasound lithotripsy on two patients with complex stones in Yili Prefecture in the north of Xinjiang.

5G Airborne Operating Room

5G Aerial Operating Room is a new type of operating room that utilizes 5G technology to realize remote surgery. It makes it possible for doctors to observe and operate on the surgical site in real time and in high definition through virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) technology far away from the surgical site by means of the high-speed and low-latency characteristics of the 5G network.

The main components of the 5G airborne operating room include a surgical robot, 5G network equipment, VR/AR equipment, and high-definition cameras. The surgical robot can perform precise surgical operations under the remote control of the surgeon; the 5G network device is responsible for transmitting high-definition video of the surgical site in real time to the remote surgeon; the VR/AR device enables the surgeon to observe and operate the surgery as if he were at the surgical site; and the high-definition camera is responsible for capturing the details of the surgical site.

The advantages of the 5G aerial operating room are mainly as follows:

1. High surgical precision: the surgical robot can perform surgery under the precise control of the surgeon, avoiding surgical errors caused by human factors.

2. Less surgical trauma: the high precision of the operation of the surgical robot can reduce the trauma of the surgery to the patient.

3. Wide scope of surgery: Through 5G network, doctors can perform remote surgery anywhere in the world, breaking the geographical limitation.

4. Improved utilization of medical resources: Through remote surgery, it can make the excellent medical resources more widely utilized.

5. Improvement of surgical efficiency: Through VR/AR technology, doctors can simulate the surgery before the operation and improve the efficiency of surgery.

Perfect combination of 5G communication technology and domestic robot technology

At 11:00 a.m., the operating room of Yili Prefecture Friendship Hospital was ready for pre-operative preparations. With the assistance of 5G communication technology, Professor Ye Xinhua, an expert in urology from Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital, who is 5,000 kilometers away, skillfully operated the Chinese-made 5G robot in the operating room of Yili Youyi Hospital at the Internet Diagnostic and Treatment Center of Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital, and the operation data sent from the remote doctor's side were encrypted and transmitted to the surgical robotic arm at the patient's side to carry out the operation. While Yang Jie, Chief Physician of Urology Department of Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital in the operating room of Yili Prefecture Friendship Hospital, and the surgical team of Yili Prefecture Friendship Hospital were guided by the remote ultrasound robotic arm, both surgeries lasted less than 40 minutes and were successfully completed.

"The perfect combination of 5G communication technology and domestic robotics is a strong guarantee for Suyi and Yi to work together to complete difficult surgical procedures." Yang Jie said that the surgery marked a step forward from the era of simple bedside robotics to 5G remote robotic surgery in Yili Prefecture, and a solid step forward for the effective projection of high-quality medical resources from China's eastern coastal regions to the frontier. In the future, the virtual "5G airborne operating room" will become an effective solution for completing difficult surgeries across time and space, which will truly allow quality medical resources to benefit more patients.

"I feel very proud that this surgery has given me a platform to show my talent, which not only allows me to bring advanced medical technology to the state of Illinois, but also realizes my personal value." After the successful implementation of the surgeries of the two patients, Yang Jie talked about the feelings of this trip to Yili, saying that just in May 2023, he ended his two-year medical aid work in Xinjiang's Kizilsu and Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture. This time, he came to Yili Friendship Hospital again to continue his aid work in Xinjiang by implementing 5G ultra-remote ultrasound-guided surgeries between Suzhou and Iraq, aiming to bring the health gospel to more patients.

At the surgical site, remote demonstration work was synchronized between the two sites.

"This mode of surgery is very good." Yang Honglin, director of urology at Friendship Hospital of Yili Prefecture, said that through remote robotic assistance in minimally invasive surgery, the patient's trauma is small, the recovery after surgery is fast, and the cost is small, which greatly reduces the patient's economic burden of medical treatment in other places. At the same time, it also rapidly improves the diagnosis and treatment and technical level of medical personnel, which really plays the role of efficient "transfer, help and bring".