Chinese doctors complete robot-assisted coronary angiography

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Experts from Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences recently conducted a completely robot-assisted coronary angiography.

The operation, which was conducted at the Shenzhen branch of Fuwai Hospital, used a surgical robot that can perform both imaging and interventional treatment.

Apart from preparation, the operation was successfully completed in only about 10 minutes. The patient was satisfied with the procedure and results.

Traditional vascular interventional surgery faces problems like scarcity of professional doctors and high radiation risk. With the help of surgical robots, doctors can be protected from radiation, and the operation accuracy is higher, which greatly reduces the probability of postoperative complications.

During traditional vascular interventions, doctors wear protective clothing weighing up to 20 kilograms, which is physically demanding, said Dou Kefei at Fuwai Hospital.

Meanwhile, an operation is performed with X-rays, but current protection measures can only effectively shield about 50 percent of radiation, Dou added.

The robot not only helps doctors avoid radiation, but also makes the operation more stable because the doctor operates in a seated position and the screen is easier to see.

In addition, the robotic arm makes delivery accuracy higher and wire controls easier, greatly reducing the probability of postoperative complications.

Robot-assisted vascular interventions lay a foundation for remote surgery and allow for a wider range of scenarios, Dou said.

According to a report, there are about 330 million people with cardiovascular disease in China, and both the prevalence rate and the number of patients are on the rise.

More than 1,800 hospitals in China have carried out vascular interventional operations, and the number of coronary interventional operations reached 5.04 million in 2019, of which about 4 million were angiography.

The success of robot-assisted coronary angiography will help promote the clinical application of surgical robots in coronary interventional surgery, Dou said.

The vascular interventional robot is expected to become a major tool of a new generation of interventional surgery in the future, benefiting more patients, Dou added.