By Lou Sijia and Yang Xiaolin
The medical staff aboard the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark make preoperative preparations. (Photo by Liu Zhilei)
COTONOU, Benin, Oct. 23 -- The Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark, which is on the Mission Harmony-2024 in Benin, in collaboration with the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Naval Medical University, completed the robot-assisted renal cyst unroofing and decompression surgery for a Beninese patient on Oct. 21st, local time. This marks the first remote surgery conducted via the domestic ship-borne surgical robot since it set sail onboard the ship Peace Ark.
The surgery was jointly conducted by the medical staff aboard the ship Peace Ark and doctors from the Naval Medical University in China. While the Peace Ark medical staff completed preparatory work including anesthesia, disinfection and surgical equipment installation, doctors from the Naval Medical University remotely controlled the robot arm to complete cyst wall rupture decompression, incision and other operations. The clear and smooth remote real-time image, swift and steady robot arm response, and close collaboration between onsite and online teams ensured the success of the surgery.
"The success of the surgery has expanded the applications of ship-borne surgical robots and provided more possibilities for future coordination and allocation of medical resources and treatment of war wounds in far seas," said the deputy commander of the Mission Harmony-2024, adding that the Chinese military doctors will continue to benefit patients around the world with their superb medical skills and advanced technologies.