Chinese ophthalmologists performed the world's first subretinal injection on a patient 4,200 kilometers away using a surgical robot, Sun Yat-sen University announced.
Doctors in Guangzhou helped a patient in Urumqi by controlling a robotic arm via 5G.
“This operation marks an important step towards the practical application of remote high-precision ophthalmic surgery in China“, said Lin Haotian, a representative of the Sun Yat-sen University Zhongshan Eye Center.
The robot inserted a microneedle into the Urumqi patient's eye, while specialists in Guangzhou, using remote control, moved the microneedle to the desired depth and administered the medicine. The entire operation took less than seven minutes.