On August 3, Hanoi Department of Health coordinated with Vinmec Health System to announce the successful implementation of 2 remote robot surgery cases using a two-way control model, the first in Vietnam.
In the first surgery, the patient was operated on at Vinmec Can Tho Hospital, while the doctor at Vinmec Smart City (Hanoi) controlled the robot system from a distance of more than 1,700km. In the second case, the model was deployed in the opposite direction when the doctor at Vinmec Can Tho controlled the robot to operate on the patient in Hanoi.
Dr. Nguyen Trong Dien - Director of Hanoi Department of Health - said that he had just directly visited two patients after surgery and highly appreciated the results achieved.
This is a breakthrough of Vietnamese medicine in applying science and technology to medical examination and treatment. For the first time, Vietnamese doctors have mastered technology, combined with telecommunications infrastructure to successfully deploy a two-dimensional robot surgery model," said Dr. Nguyen Trong Dien.
The first case was a 15-year-old female patient with right ovarian goiter. The treatment goal is not only to remove the tumor but also to maximally preserve ovarian parenchyma, maintain endocrine function and fertility. In the surgery, doctors at Vinmec Smart City remotely control the robot, in coordination with the team at Vinmec Can Tho. The robot system helps to operate accurately, limiting damage to healthy tissues.
The second case is a 42-year-old male patient suffering from left liver cancer on a background of chronic hepatitis B, who was indicated for endoscopic left liver resection combined with gallbladder resection. This time, doctors at Vinmec Can Tho controlled a robot to perform surgery for a patient at Vinmec Smart City. This is the first time a remote robot surgery model in Vietnam has been deployed in reverse direction between two hospitals in the same system.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Gia Du, Director of Vinmec Smart City, said that to perform a remote robot surgery, not only a robot arm and an internet connection are needed. The system must simultaneously meet many strict requirements on expertise, anesthesia and resuscitation, operating room nursery, information technology, data security, low latency transmission and contingency plans in case of incidents.
Despite applying modern technology, robots do not replace humans in surgery. Robots only perform precise operations according to the doctor's orders, and all professional decisions are still made by the surgeon.
Besides the doctor controlling the robot, each surgery still requires the coordination of many departments such as anesthesia and resuscitation, operating room nurses, diagnostic imaging, tests, intensive care, along with a team of robotics and information technology. At the place where the patient is operated on, there is always a full surgical team ready to take over if unexpected situations arise," Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Gia Du added.
The successful operation of the remote robot surgery network can open up a new approach to specialized medical techniques. Instead of patients having to travel to major hospitals to meet experts, in the future, leading doctors can directly participate in surgery for patients even if they are thousands of kilometers away.
According to Dr. Nguyen Trong Dien, the success of two-way remote robot surgery is an important step forward for Hanoi healthcare in applying high technology. From August 1, the Hanoi Department of Health is assigned to license many specialized techniques and recognize international practicing certificates of foreign experts, creating conditions to attract high-quality human resources.
