Xiong'an, Hebei, July 2-3, 2025 – Professor Rong Liu, Director of the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at a major Chinese medical center, has completed the first reported remote robotic surgery conducted via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite. The procedure was carried out in Xiong’an New Area, Hebei Province, utilizing the Toumai® Mobile Surgical Platform, developed by MicroPort® MedBot™.
With one-way latency kept under 60 milliseconds, Prof. Liu successfully completed two liver tumor resections with high precision. There was no visible bleeding, patient vitals remained stable, and both individuals were discharged the next day, achieving true day-surgery outcomes. This milestone marks Toumai® as the world’s first surgical robotic system approved for commercial remote clinical use across multiple specialties and communication networks, including dedicated lines, 5G, conventional networks, GEO and now LEO satellite systems.
A Leap into the “Third Generation of Remote Surgery”
The success of both GEO and LEO satellite-assisted surgeries signals a major advancement in what MedBot™ defines as the “third generation of remote surgery”, a new paradigm built on satellite-enabled, low-latency, and highly reliable teleoperation for complex clinical procedures.
In December 2024, Prof. Liu had previously drawn international attention by performing two remote liver surgeries using the Toumai® system over a geostationary satellite 36,000 km above Earth. The event was widely reported and hailed by international experts as a transformative step in global telemedicine.
Dr. Chao He, President of MicroPort® MedBot™, explained that GEO-based surgery involves communication distances of up to 150,000 km round trip, posing unique challenges in latency, transmission stability, and data security. In response, the company developed a comprehensive remote surgery technology stack featuring redundant data transmission, latency compensation, ultra-compressed imaging, end-to-end encryption, and adaptive network optimization to ensure safe and precise remote operation.
Prof. Liu emphasized that even the subtlest surgical commands were transmitted instantly to the robot, while patients’ vital signs were fed back in real time, dramatically enhancing surgical responsiveness and accuracy.
Real-Time Precision, Global Reach
The successful application of LEO satellite communication in robotic surgery marks a new stage in expanding remote care access. While Toumai® already holds the record for the world’s longest-distance remote surgery (12,000 km from Morocco to Shanghai) and supported the first FDA-IDE-approved cross-border robotic procedure (11,000 km) earlier in June, the adoption of LEO technology now eliminates reliance on ground-based networks.
Compared to GEO systems, LEO satellites orbit at 200–2,000 km, significantly reducing transmission delay while maintaining wide coverage and high data rates. “LEO satellite surgery is more than speed, Prof. Liu noted. “It’s a new infrastructure that transcends geography, terrain, and even natural disasters. Anywhere with sky access, ships at sea, mountain villages, or desert outposts can potentially connect to life-saving surgery”.
Mobile Platform Brings Surgery Beyond the Hospital
The use of the Toumai® Mobile Surgical Platform further demonstrated that complex, high-precision procedures can be performed safely and effectively outside conventional hospital settings. This mobility offers critical advantages in emergency response, disaster relief, and remote deployments, enabling faster intervention and expanding access to advanced surgical care.
About MicroPort® MedBot™
Commenced its development for laparoscopic surgery robots in 2014, and officially established in Shanghai in 2015, Shanghai MicroPort MedBot (Group) Co., Ltd. ("MicroPort® MedBot™", stock code: 02252.HK), a subsidiary of MicroPort Scientific Corporation ("MicroPort®", stock code: 00853.HK), is currently the only surgical robot company in the world with businesses covering five promising subsectors of surgical robots, including endoscopy, orthopedics, vascular intervention, natural orifice surgery, and percutaneous puncture. At MicroPort® MedBot™, we are committed to meeting the growing demand for cutting-edge robotic surgery. By integrating advanced research on robotics, control algorithms, image-based navigation, and precision imaging, we provide comprehensive intelligent surgical solutions to prolong and reshape the lives of patients, lead the advancement of robotic surgery, and shape the era of intelligent surgery.
More information is available at: www.medbotsurgical.com/en