Shanghai, China, 20 May 2025 – MicroPort® MedBot™ is pleased to announce that its Toumai^® Tele-Robotic Surgical System has recently received market approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China. This approval makes Toumai^® the world's first tele-operated surgical robotic system authorized for commercial clinical use, marking a groundbreaking milestone in the field of tele-robotic surgery.    

MicroPort^® MedBot™ has addressed two of the industry’s longstanding technical barriers - compatibility with existing network infrastructure and large-scale deployment feasibility. In response to the requirements of large-scale clinical development, the company has developed a next-generation tele-surgical platform featuring ultra-low latency image compression, multidimensional data encryption, adaptive network optimization strategies, and safety assurance protocols tailored to complex network environments.  

The Toumai^® system is the first in the world to support integration with multiple communication infrastructures, including 5G, broadband, dedicated fiber lines, and satellite communications. This enables highly flexible and cost-effective “one-to-many” and “many-to-many” remote surgical connectivity. As a result, it significantly reduces operational costs and simplifies deployment of telesurgery. 

MicroPort^® MedBot™ has also established the world’s first and only intercontinental telesurgery network, which currently spans six continents and over 100 countries and regions. To date, nearly 400 tele-surgical procedures have been successfully performed. Network performance tests show that the bidirectional latency is less than 50 milliseconds for inter-provincial procedures and under 150 milliseconds for telesurgeries conducted across telecom carriers, countries, and continents. 

Tele-surgical technology breaks down the barriers of geography and time, making advanced surgical care more equitable and accessible. It reduces the need for long-distance patient transfers, decreases associated medical costs, and eases the burden on healthcare systems by enabling remote collaboration between surgical teams and institutions. 

Since early 2024, the Toumai^® Robot has enabled a series of world-first tele-surgical milestones, including the first vehicle-mounted telesurgery, ultra-remote lung tumor resection, ship-based robotic surgery, remote pancreaticoduodenectomy, satellite-enabled telesurgery, and the first “five-hospital simultaneous” procedure. These achievements underscore the versatility of telesurgery and its potential for global scalability. 

This milestone not only marks a technological breakthrough but also a significant step toward redefining the future of surgical care delivery.