Indonesia expands robotic telesurgery project with Iran
Robotic telesurgery continues to take off in Indonesia, with the support of the Iranian government.
The Robotic Telesurgery Center, a project between the two governments, is being expanded to connect Indonesia's western and eastern islands at a distance of 3,500 kilometers. Haji Adam Malik Central General Hospital, North Sumatra in Western Indonesia and Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Makassar, Sulawesi in Eastern Indonesia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to join the project.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Indonesian government is pursuing robotic telesurgery as a strategy in telemedicineo Improve access to quality referral healthcare services, especially for remote communities.
The Ministry of Health has approached Iran to help set up robotic telesurgery in the country. It cited benefits including shorter patient travel distances, greater surgical accuracy and shorter recovery periods. The infection rate is also minimized because the procedure is performed remotely. It is hoped that robotic telesurgery will be applied to digestive, urological and gynecological procedures in the future.
THE GREATER CONTEXT
The expansion of the robotic telesurgery project followed the success of the pilot conducted last May, in which Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung and Dr. Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta were involved. Sina Robotics delivered its robotic surgery system to the pilot locations, which are 500 kilometers apart. Local telecommunications company Telkomsel supported the long-distance trial by offering 5G connectivity. Participating surgeons and local physicians were first trained to use control consoles that simulate surgical procedures, after which they were allowed to demonstrate the system on a laboratory animal.
The project, which began in 2021, is now entering its fourth year; Iran and Indonesia will focus on technology transfer and local production of robotic surgery systems in collaboration with state-owned companies, including Indofarma.
In other news, Singapore and Japan also performed their first robotic telesurgery surgery last October. The National University Hospital in Singapore and Fujita Health University in Japan conducted a study Remote gastrectomy, more than 2,500 miles apart.
ON THE RECORD
“We hope that this robotic telesurgery technology will be able to provide surgical services to all communities in remote areas with the same quality as in big cities,” Dr. Zainal Safri, director of Haji Adam Malik Central General Hospital, said in a statement . rack.