5G orthopedic robot surgery completed in Foshan, Guangdong

"Can the machine locate it?" "Yes!" On the morning of April 28, a complicated femoral neck fracture surgery was being performed at Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. Liu Xiaofang, director of Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and an orthopedic expert, used a China Mobile 5G mobile phone outside the operating room to communicate with the doctor in the operating room via video through the 5G ultra-high-speed network, achieving full HD, no delay, and full guidance as if he was at the surgery site in person.

This is the first remote video guidance application of orthopedic surgery robot-assisted femoral neck fracture surgery under 5G network technology in China. On the same day, China Mobile also held a signing ceremony with Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital to jointly build a 5G Internet hospital.

The first operation performed was a complicated femoral neck fracture operation. The patient was 51-year-old Ms. Huang, who had right hip swelling and pain due to a fall. The diagnosis was that it was a right femoral neck fracture, and closed reduction and internal fixation of the fracture was required.

The doctor in the operating room first placed the robotic arm and collected surgical images. The author saw on the big screen that the upper half of the big screen was an image of the patient's right hip, and the lower half was a panoramic view of the operating room.

After marking the points, the surgeon planned the surgical path, and Liu Xiaofang guided the adjustment of the surgical path and determined the surgical plan. During the operation, Director Liu Xiaofang used China Mobile's 5G mobile phone to communicate with the surgeon in the operating room via video over the 5G ultra-high-speed network, achieving full HD, delay-free, and on-site guidance as if he were present at the operation.

During the nearly 40-minute operation, Zhou Guanming, director of the Department of Orthopedics at Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, used the intelligent assistance and precise positioning of the intelligent robot to accurately insert the hollow screw into the fracture site and successfully completed the closed reduction and internal fixation with sub-millimeter accuracy. Compared with conventional surgical methods, the operation time was greatly shortened and the efficiency and quality of the operation were improved.

"The 5G network image is very clear, and combined with our robot, the error is 0.8 mm. In the past, such difficult operations required doctors with more than ten years of experience to complete." Wu Zhengjie, deputy director of the Orthopedic Center of Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, said, "But in the future, '5G+surgical robots' can guide grassroots doctors to perform operations."