Mr Dasgupta controlled the robot in Gibraltar using a console at his London clinic (Image: PA)
A surgeon in London has operated on a patient with prostate cancer 2,400km away in Gibraltar, in the first UK remote robotic surgery. Patient Paul Buxton, 62, who is originally from Burnham-On-Sea in Somerset, moved to Gibraltar 40 years ago. He said it was a “no-brainer” to be involved and he was happy to be the “guinea pig”.
Mr Buxton added: “A lot of people actually said to me: ‘You’re not going to do it, are you?’ I thought, ‘I’m giving something back here’. I love football — we’ve literally gone from being in the Championship to the Champions League as far as surgeons are concerned.” The only hospital in Gibraltar is St Bernard’s at Europort. Patients with more complex problems usually have to travel further afield, including to the UK for those needing NHS care.
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Mr Buxton received a shock diagnosis of prostate cancer after Christmas and had expected to join the NHS waiting list for treatment in England.
Instead, leading robotic urological surgeon Professor Prokar Dasgupta operated on him remotely for the “milestone” surgery on February 11.
Mr Dasgupta, who leads The London Clinic’s Robotic Centre of Excellence, controlled the arms of a robot using a console and 3D camera system, with a delay of only 0.06 seconds.
The console in the UK was connected to the robot in Gibraltar via fibre optics, with a backup 5G connection. A team on the ground in Gibraltar was standing ready to take over as a precaution in case the connection dropped.
Mr Buxton, who owns a transport company, said he was “really well looked after”. He added: “I was feeling fantastic four days after the operation.”
The London Clinic and Gibraltar Health Authority collaborated on the project, and the Toumai Robotic System, made by Microport, was used to perform the operation.
Mr Buxton was the first of two test cases and the first official surgery took place on Wednesday March 4.
Mr Dasgupta performed another prostatectomy — a surgical removal of the prostate — on an unnamed 52-year-old man, also in Gibraltar.
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Paul Buxton felt ‘fantastic’ four days after the groundbreaking operation (Image: PA)
Speaking after the March 4 surgery, he said: “This is a historic moment — the first telesurgery procedure from The London Clinic to Gibraltar, 2,400 kilometres away. Unbelievable.
“This is very good news for patients in Gibraltar and other remote areas.”
Mr Dasgupta will perform the procedure again on March 14, which will be live-streamed to 20,000 world-leading urological surgeons at the European Association of Urology congress in London.
Al Russell, chief executive at The London Clinic, said: “The London Clinic is proud to be part of medical history and we have a strong reputation for medical firsts.
“We hope more patients will be able to benefit from this incredible medical breakthrough.”
Gibraltar minister for health, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, added: “This is a landmark moment for the Gibraltar Health Authority and for our patients.
“To deliver a complex procedure in Gibraltar with the operating surgeon based in London shows how technology, investment and the expertise of our clinicians are transforming healthcare.”
The NHS is expanding the use of robotic-assisted surgery and plans to increase the number of procedures performed annually from 70,000 to half a million over the next decade.
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