Daily Times

The Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center at the Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China has achieved a milestone in the field of ophthalmic surgery by completing the world’s first remote, micron-level surgery on rabbits using an independently developed 5G robot. The surgeries took place on June 23 on rabbits at the centre in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, with the surgical team operating the robot from the Hainan Eye Hospital at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in Haikou, capital of Hainan province. The trial was led by Professor Lin Haotian’s team, and all 12 rabbits operated on are in stable condition after a month of observation. According to Lin, who is the director of the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, the breakthrough will help accelerate remote medicine in China, and elevate the country’s medical devices and equipment to world-leading levels. It will also contribute to the development of national medical standards, China Daily reported. Lin said that this achievement has far-reaching implications in addressing the imbalance in the development of ophthalmology and the uneven distribution of top-notch medical resources across the country. In saving time for doctors and patients, reducing economic costs, and improving the efficiency of treatment, telemedicine has the potential to overcome such challenges.