Surgery via satellite: China conducts ultra-remote medical procedures in world first

Remote doctors have successfully operated on a series of patients using a Chinese satellite and surgical robot system

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China said it has completed the world’s first satellite-based ultra-remote surgeries. Photo: CCTV

Published: 9:30pm, 3 Jan 2025

The world’s first satellite-based, ultra-remote surgeries have been conducted by China – a breakthrough which could potentially help treat injuries in high-intensity combat scenarios.

Using the Apstar-6D broadband communications satellite, 36,000km above the Earth, doctors from the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital remotely conducted five operations from Lhasa in Tibet, Dali in Yunnan and Sanya in Hainan, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.

The patients, located in Beijing, underwent procedures on their liver, gallbladder or pancreas with the assistance of a domestically developed surgical robot system. All reportedly recovered and were discharged the following day.

Data for each precise movement during the surgeries travelled a two-way distance of nearly 150,000km – a first on both domestic and international fronts, according to CCTV.

“This series of remote surgeries spanned China’s mountains and straits, demonstrating the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of performing complex long-distance operations using home-grown satellite technologies and robotic systems,” CCTV said.

The achievement was a significant breakthrough in integrating medical and information technology, opening up new possibilities for trauma care systems in the future, it added.

Launched in 2020, Apstar-6D is a high-throughput communications satellite with a total capacity of 50 gigabits per second and an expected lifespan of 15 years. It provides extensive coverage across the Asia-Pacific region, focusing particularly on air and sea traffic routes.