Shanghai surgeons enhance minimally invasive surgery with robotics

A Chinese original spinal endoscopy surgical technique, which reduces surgical incision from about 20 centimeters in a traditional operation to approximately 1 cm, recently underwent an intelligent upgrade with the integration of surgical robots, which doctors said will help promote the technology in more regions.

Designed to address the rising incidence of spinal diseases, the team of Shanghai doctors globally introduced the spinal endoscopic technology known as uni-port bi-channel dual-media, or UBD, about a decade ago, significantly reducing the size of surgical incisions to benefit patients.

Now, this surgical technique has been deeply integrated with surgical robots, with the vision of pioneering a new path for minimally invasive treatment of complex spinal diseases, said He Shisheng, a leading expert on the team from Shanghai East Hospital.

"The integration of robots allows for fully visualized and precise positioning of the surgeon's operations, indicating the distance from nerves and blood vessels. It also offers advantages in surgical planning, optimizing the surgeon's learning curve, and expanding indications," he said.

His team recently completed two surgeries that incorporated this intelligent upgrade, with patients recovering well post-operation.

Doctors said the system includes a miniature surgical robot with a mechanical arm equivalent to the size of a palm. The entire system occupies just 0.32 square meters and can be quickly deployed in different operating rooms.

Over 2,000 patients nationwide have benefitted from UBD surgeries. Training centers for this technology have been established in foreign countries, including Japan and Thailand, and UBD spinal endoscopy products have been exported to countries like Brazil and India, according to He.