China, Shanghai - As of early November 2023, the Toumai® four arm laparoscopic surgical robot, developed by Shanghai MicroPort MedBot (Group) Co., Ltd. (referred to as " Toumai®"), has assisted in over 1,500 clinical surgeries across urology, general surgery, thoracic surgery, gynecology, and other departments in nearly 60 hospitals in 21 provinces nationwide. It has also conducted over 80 exploratory 5G remote surgeries. Among these cases, there have been over 1,100 level 4 high-difficulty surgeries, nearly 60 consecutive surgeries in a single day, with the highest record being "six consecutive surgeries." The Toumai® robot has achieved over 10 world-first records in remote surgery exploration, with a 100% success rate. These remarkable achievements have drawn attention. According to publicly available reports, the growth rate of surgical volume for the Toumai® robot surpasses that of early-stage imported robots, showcasing the strong driving force of Chinese-developed robotic laparoscopic surgery applications. Numerous first-record and innovative achievements have established the international cutting-edge innovation status of Chinese-developed robotic laparoscopic surgery.
According to reports from The Shanghai Observer, from November 28th to December 2nd, Chairman Xi Jinping visited and conducted research in Shanghai to understand the progress of Shanghai's construction of an international science and technology innovation center. In the Future Park of Zhangjiang Science City, the Toumai® robot, as one of the "heavyweights" in Chinese-developed medical innovation, presented a report and demonstration on cutting-edge innovation and clinical applications to Chairman Xi.
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Surgeon Volume "Far Ahead"
Excellent performance establishes a solid foundation for multi-department clinical applications
From completing 500 cases in February 2023 to reaching 1,000 cases in June, and then surpassing 1,500 cases in early November, Toumai® has assisted in over 1,000 surgeries within a span of nine months, setting a record for the incremental increase in Chinese-developed robotic laparoscopic surgeries. This achievement has provided Toumai® with a large and diverse clinical validation of its stability, safety, and effectiveness in assisting surgeries among nearly 200 different procedures.
Among the completed 1,500 surgeries, Toumai® has achieved numerous remarkable results: over 1,100 cases of level 4 high-difficulty surgeries, accounting for 95% of level 3 and level 4 surgeries; the highest monthly surgery volume reaching nearly 140 cases, with two hospitals surpassing 100 cases each; and nearly 50 consecutive surgeries in a single day in 2023, continuously setting records for "four consecutive surgeries," "five consecutive surgeries," and "six consecutive surgeries." The outstanding performance of Toumai® in continuously challenging high-difficulty complex surgeries has allowed surgical experts from various departments to fully demonstrate their exceptional surgical skills.
Clinical doctors have expressed, "To achieve records of five consecutive surgeries and six consecutive surgeries in the second year after its launch, such stability is rare among similar products worldwide. With the assistance of Toumai®, we can perform several times the number of surgeries in a single day compared to traditional surgeries. Moreover, compared to traditional and laparoscopic surgeries, it is easier and quicker to train more surgeons to use the surgical robot, and there is no issue of 'uncertainty' or 'instability.' This enables us to provide more efficient and safer high-quality surgical treatments for a larger number of patients."
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Overcoming Challenges, Creating Numerous Firsts
Successfully challenging the "ceiling" of various surgical procedures
As of now, the Toumai® robot has been applied in nearly 200 different surgical procedures, achieving comprehensive coverage across multiple departments and diverse procedures. In urology, it can perform nearly 50 procedures, including radical prostatectomy, radical nephrectomy with inferior vena cava tumor thrombus extraction, nephrectomy, pyeloplasty, radical cystectomy, vasovasostomy, ureteroplasty, living donor nephrectomy, and more. In general surgery (hepatobiliary, gastrointestinal, and breast surgery), it can perform over 100 procedures, such as pancreaticoduodenectomy, pancreatic cancer resection (Whipple procedure), radical gastrectomy, sigmoidectomy, gastrectomy, thyroidectomy, and more. In thoracic surgery, it can perform nearly 10 procedures, including lobectomy, wedge resection, and mediastinal tumor resection. In gynecology, it is applicable to over 20 procedures, including comprehensive staging surgery for endometrial cancer, omentectomy, total hysterectomy, adnexectomy, and more.
Among these nearly 200 clinical applications, the Toumai® robot has not only pioneered the application of over 40 difficult procedures among Chinese-developed surgical robots but has also successfully challenged the "ceiling" of various departmental procedures. These include but are not limited to the first case of radical prostatectomy, the first case of partial nephrectomy, the first case of radical nephrectomy, the first case of pancreaticoduodenectomy, the first case of liver resection, the first case of radical lung cancer surgery, the first case of radical gastrectomy, the first case of Kamikawa anastomosis, the first case of hysterectomy, the first case of comprehensive staging surgery for endometrial cancer, the first case of extensive type C2 radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer, and the first case of comprehensive staging surgery for early-stage ovarian cancer. These achievements demonstrate that the Toumai® robot is increasingly maturing in clinical applications and can fully meet the clinical requirements of multiple departments. It helps doctors continuously challenge and successfully complete numerous difficult procedures, contributing to the high-quality development of clinical practice and research in hospitals.
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Leading the Exploration of 5G Remote Surgery Worldwide
Overcoming Extreme Environmental Challenges, Crossing Mountains and Seas
Both the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Vision 2035 outline the need to create a favorable digital ecosystem and promote applications such as telemedicine. Currently, the Toumai® robot has assisted Chinese-developed experts in conducting over 80 exploratory 5G remote surgeries, achieving a 100% success rate. Among them, nearly 10 surgeries were performed over a distance of 5,000 kilometers, setting multiple world-first records, including liver resection, spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy, radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, radical nephrectomy for renal tumors, and radical prostatectomy. Industry insiders have commented that the farther the distance and the poorer the network signal transmission, these surgeries were performed at a distance exceeding 5,000 kilometers, making them the farthest 5G remote robot surgeries to date, and all were successful. This achievement has groundbreaking significance for the development of global surgical science and deserves to be recorded as a milestone achievement.
In these remote and high-difficulty surgeries, surgeons need to perform a large number of delicate operations such as dissection, cutting, and suturing. This places almost harsh requirements on the stability of the equipment, the precision of the robotic arms, the flexibility of the instruments, and the timeliness of network transmission. With technological advantages in low-latency master-slave control, high-bandwidth network communication, and high stability system architecture design, the Toumai® robot has withstood various challenges brought by network conditions and extreme harsh environments. Throughout the entire surgery, there were no signal delays, processing delays, or sluggish feedback. The transmission of operational data from the remote doctor's end to the patient's end and the implementation of surgery by the robotic arm were almost synchronous. Test data shows that the network latency was less than 40ms, and the packet loss rate was 0. It truly achieves "zero distance" between patients in remote areas and experts in major cities, becoming a new paradigm for the implementation of China's hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system and the construction of smart healthcare.
In fact, MicroPort® MedBot® Group's exploration of remote surgery goes beyond this. In September 2022, outside the Jiayuguan City Wall, known as the "First Pass Under Heaven," MicroPort® MedBot® collaborated with telecommunications operators to combine drone networking technology with 5G technology to achieve remote communication. Ultimately, they successfully completed the first Chinese-developed demonstration of 5G remote robot animal surgery skills outside the hospital environment. This laid a solid technical foundation for future networked and coordinated remote surgery of field surgical robots (in complex surgical environments) and proved that the Toumai® robot can be used for stable, reliable, and safe 5G remote surgery through ordinary network signals in complex environments.
Mr. Yu Liu, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of MicroPort® MedBot®, stated in a media interview that remote surgery is not the only goal. The more important function of future surgical robots is to enable remote teaching demonstrations and remote surgical guidance, with remote surgery being the final step. All of these are ultimately aimed at benefiting patients. Now that ultra-long-distance surgery has been achieved, remote teaching demonstrations and surgical guidance will also be realized in the end.
Dr. Chao He, President of MicroPort® MedBot®, stated that the Toumai® has reached a new milestone with over 1,500 surgeries, and this achievement would not have been possible without the support of hospital leaders and clinical experts. MicroPort® MedBot® is exploring and pioneering a path of integration between medicine and technology with Chinese characteristics. We are continuously strengthening technological innovation, optimizing product development, and improving the quality of clinical services to build the influence of a Chinese brand. In the future, we will continue to contribute to the development of minimally invasive surgical technology and promote its intelligent and inclusive development. We are committed to the belief of " Make surgery easier, safer and less invasive." and strive to make high-quality medical services more accessible, inclusive, and compassionate.
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