ArticleAnnals of thoracic surgery short reports2025
A New Technological Approach to Robotic Telesurgery with Starlink: Safe Telesurgery.
Article in Annals of thoracic surgery short reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Perioperative outcomes of remote robot-assisted cholecystectomy: a single-arm meta-analysis.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Real-world evaluation of low-earth-orbit satellite communication for surgical telementoring: implications for future robotic surgery.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Article
- Clinical application of robotic telesurgery in the Brazilian public health system: a consecutive case series.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to perform the world's first robot-assisted telesurgery for lung resection in an animal model using Starlink (SpaceX) to address cost and latency issues associated with conventional telesurgery communication methods. Description: A Saroa (Riverfield Inc) surgical robot with haptic feedback function was used in a swine model. The animal was located 1000 km away in Fukushima, Japan, while the surgeon console was located in Fukuoka, Japan. Starlink provided real-time video and data communication. Surgical parameters including safety, latency, and cost were evaluated. Evaluation: The surgery was completed in 2 hours 44 minutes. Average communication latency was approximately 130 milliseconds, with minor image disturbances occurring once every 5 minutes, potentially due to satellite switching or weather conditions. Despite these interruptions, the surgery was conducted safely. Conclusions: The successful performance of this telesurgery highlights the potential of low-cost and low-latency satellite communication systems to overcome barriers in telesurgery. These findings pave the way for broader telesurgery applications, particularly in underserved regions, and set the stage for further technical and clinical advancements in remote robotic surgery.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.