Top surgical robotics companies have joined forces to publish technical guidelines for robotic telesurgery. Announced today, the guidelines are published in the World Journal of Surgery and represent a first step of major industry players working together toward eventual industry standards for remote robotic surgery procedures. Co-authors included a coalition of experts from major medtech and healthcare organizations. “Thanks to the collective efforts of the many experts and leaders across the industry who collaborated with us on this critical publication, we now have a detailed, shared reference outlining the essential requirements for enabling safe, scalable remote surgery and procedure programs,” Wang, Sovato’s executive chair, said in a statement shared with MassDevice. “This marks the beginning of an ongoing and shared commitment to maintaining the most current technical guidelines — with the aim of prioritizing patient safety, streamlining market adoption, and ultimately unlocking the full potential of remote robotic surgery and procedures to close gaps in access to high-quality care worldwide.” Remote robotic surgery’s roots go back to 2001 and the “Lindbergh operation” — in which French surgeons located in New York remotely controlled a surgical robot across the Atlantic Ocean to perform a robot‐assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a 68‐year‐old woman in Strasbourg.

Full report : Top surgical robotics companies agree on remote surgery guidelines.