Hospital pioneers remote robotic surgery

In a groundbreaking medical achievement, Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital in Fujian Province, China, has successfully conducted the world’s first cross-border remote robot-assisted heart surgery. This historic procedure, performed on October 23, 2025, involved collaboration between Chinese and French medical experts. The surgery was led by Wang Yan, president of Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital, and Lionel Leroux, a professor of cardiovascular disease from Bordeaux University Hospital in France. Using a robotic system developed jointly by the Xiamen hospital and a Shanghai-based robotics company, the team remotely performed a transcatheter mitral valve repair on a 73-year-old patient in Xiamen, with no local surgeons physically present. The hour-long operation was executed with submillimeter precision and stable communication, monitored in real-time by the Xiamen hospital’s cardiac intervention, anesthesia, ultrasound, and nursing teams. The patient recovered well and was discharged shortly after the successful procedure. This milestone demonstrates the practicality and safety of remote precision control in robotic interventional therapy, marking a significant advancement in global medical technology. Wang Yan emphasized that this achievement highlights China’s capability to export its cardiovascular robotic systems for complex surgeries worldwide. French experts, including Thomas Modine, praised the technology as a major step forward in democratizing advanced medical skills globally. The success of this surgery is expected to pave the way for broader adoption of remote robotic techniques in clinical settings across the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.