How to Do Remote Surgery, 2001 to 2024 - Cynthia Perazzo & Yulun Wang
Discover telesurgery’s fascinating origin and future in this double-feature episode with Cynthia Perazzo and Yulun Wang, the Co-Founders of Sovato. Your host, Henry Norton, guided the conversation through topics such as patient-driven adoption to the potential for healthcare revolution. Cynthia and Yulun also discussed surgeon shortages and the accessibility challenges facing more rural and remote populations in receiving a high standard of care. Listen in to learn more about technology’s role in transforming healthcare in the coming years.
Share
S03 E05
How to Do Remote Surgery, 2001 to 2024 - Cynthia Perazzo & Yulun Wang
The Future of Telesurgery: Unlocking Remote Access to Surgical Expertise
The world of surgical robotics is undergoing a seismic shift. Telesurgery, once a futuristic concept, is rapidly becoming a reality, offering new possibilities for patient care, surgical expertise, and healthcare accessibility. In a recent episode of the Surgibots podcast, Dr. Yulun Wang and Cynthia Perazzo explored how Savato is paving the way for a new era of remote surgery and procedures.
Why Telesurgery? The Healthcare Workforce Challenge
One of the primary drivers of telesurgery is the growing shortage of surgeons. By 2030, the U.S. is projected to face a deficit of over 30,000 surgeons, making access to specialized care more challenging—especially for patients outside major metropolitan areas.
Telesurgery aims to bridge this gap by enabling highly trained surgeons to operate on patients remotely, ensuring that location is no longer a barrier to receiving top-tier surgical care.
What is Telesurgery?
While the concept of robotic-assisted surgery has existed for decades, true remote surgery—where the surgeon is not physically present with the patient—requires additional technological infrastructure. Savato defines telesurgery as the ability to connect a surgeon with a patient at a distance, utilizing a robotic system, advanced networking technology, and a skilled care team on the ground.
Key Components of Remote Surgery:
Surgical Robots: Devices like ZEUS and ESOP have paved the way for robotic-assisted telesurgery.
High-Speed Networking: Reliable, low-latency communication infrastructure is critical for real-time surgical control.
Coordinated Care Teams: Local surgical teams play a vital role in supporting remote procedures.
How Savato Enables Remote Surgery
Savato is not building robots; rather, it is developing the technological and operational infrastructure needed to enable remote surgery. This includes:
Replacing traditional wired connections with a long-distance fiber-optic network, ensuring ultra-low latency and reliable performance.
Orchestrating the entire surgical journey, from pre-op assessments to post-surgical follow-ups.
Navigating regulatory and reimbursement challenges, working closely with the FDA and healthcare providers.
Why Not 5G? The Case for Fiber Optics
Many telesurgery demonstrations have relied on 5G networks, but Savato has taken a different approach—fiber-optic communication. Why?
Reliability: Wireless networks can experience unpredictable interference and congestion.
Low Latency: Fiber offers deterministic connections, reducing lag in surgical movements.
Widespread Infrastructure: Over 95% of U.S. hospitals already have fiber-optic connectivity, making integration seamless.
The Economic Case for Telesurgery
Beyond the technological and regulatory hurdles, telesurgery must also be financially viable. Savato highlights three major economic benefits:
Expanding Access: Health systems can reach new patient populations without requiring surgeons to travel.
Optimizing Operating Room (OR) Utilization: Large hospitals often struggle with OR availability, while smaller community hospitals lack specialized surgeons. Remote surgery balances capacity.
Maximizing Surgeon Productivity: Surgeons often spend significant time waiting between cases. Remote surgery allows them to operate in multiple locations in a single day.
Safety, Regulations, and the Road Ahead
Regulatory approval remains a major consideration. Surgical robots are regulated medical devices, and introducing remote capabilities raises new questions:
State Licensing: Surgeons must be credentialed in the state where the patient is located.
Hospital Credentialing: Facilities must ensure surgeons are authorized to perform remote procedures.
Reimbursement Models: Innovative payment structures will be necessary to support telesurgery financially.
Project Lindbergh: A Historic Milestone in Telesurgery
In 2001, Professor Jacques Marescaux performed the world’s first transatlantic telesurgery, the Lindbergh Operation, using ZEUS. Though groundbreaking, the concept was ahead of its time. Now, thanks to better internet infrastructure, improved robotics, and greater acceptance of telemedicine, telesurgery is primed for mainstream adoption.
What’s Next? The Future of Remote Surgery
Savato envisions a future where telesurgery is widely accessible, not just for complex procedures but for a broad range of interventions:
Interventional & Diagnostic Procedures: Beyond surgery, remote capabilities will extend to minimally invasive diagnostics and treatments.
Global Expansion: Many regions lack access to high-quality surgical care. Telesurgery can close this gap.
AI-Powered Optimization: Data analytics and AI will enhance surgical workflows, improving patient outcomes.
Final Thoughts
The next decade will determine whether telesurgery moves from experimental to standard practice. Companies like Savato are building the infrastructure necessary for this transformation, ensuring that high-quality surgical care is accessible anytime, anywhere.
As healthcare embraces digital transformation, telesurgery represents a pivotal step toward a future of life-saving innovation.
Want to stay ahead in surgical robotics and MedTech? Subscribe to Surgibots for expert insights from industry pioneers!
