Florida surgeon performs groundbreaking robotic surgery on African patient from thousands of miles away
In a remarkable medical milestone, Dr. Vipul Patel, a Florida-based surgeon, has successfully conducted a remote prostate surgery on a patient in Angola, Africa, using a robotic system controlled from the United States.
Dr. Patel, who serves as the medical director of the Global Robotic Institute at Advent Health in Orlando, performed the prostatectomy on 67-year-old Fernando da Silva, who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in March.
The surgery took place in June and marks one of the first instances of transcontinental robotic telesurgery.
“This surgery was years in the making,” said Dr. Patel, noting that his team spent two years exploring the necessary technology.
“We travelled the globe looking at the right systems,” he told ABC News.
Though robotic surgery has been done before, it typically requires the surgeon to be physically close to the patient. In this case, Patel used fibre optic cables to operate the robot from across the Atlantic Ocean—reportedly without any delay in control.
Da Silva was the first participant in a human clinical trial approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test this long-distance surgical method. Dr. Patel emphasised that his local surgical team remained present in Angola as a precaution, ready to intervene if needed.
“We had plan A, B, C, and D. My team was right there to step in if something went wrong,” he explained.
The success of the surgery could revolutionise access to healthcare in underserved regions, not only globally but also in rural parts of the United States.
“This is a small step for a surgeon, but a huge leap for healthcare,” Dr. Patel said.
He added that such technology could one day be used in emergency settings, allowing remote surgical assistance even from ambulances. Patel plans to submit clinical data from the surgery to the FDA in hopes of expanding the use of telesurgery worldwide.
“This has massive humanitarian potential,” he said, highlighting how vital it is to bring specialised care to remote and under-resourced areas.
