Professor Wang Yan (middle) operates the robotic controller in France. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]
An innovative procedure set to make medical history was successfully completed at the Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital Xiamen University on Oct 23. The hospital performed the world's first transnational remote robotic-assisted transcatheter cardiac intervention, marking the beginning of a new era in intelligent and globally collaborative cardiovascular interventional therapy.
During the procedure, Professor Wang Yan, president of Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital, operated alongside Professor Lionel Leroux, head of the Adult Structural Heart Disease Intervention Department at Bordeaux University Hospital, while both were physically present at Bordeaux University Hospital in France. Meanwhile, Professor Thomas Modine, director of the Center for Structural Valve Disease Therapy and Innovation at Bordeaux University Hospital, participated remotely online to provide guidance.
Using a remote-control platform, the two experts collaboratively maneuvered the robotic system in the catheterization lab in Xiamen, China, to successfully perform a robotic-assisted transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) on a patient.
The procedure spanned a distance of over 10,000 kilometers across Eurasia, enabling real-time collaboration and precise synchronous control between experts in the two countries.
Based on current publicly available literature and authoritative reports, no prior clinical precedent for a transnational remote robotic-assisted transcatheter cardiac intervention has been documented, establishing this surgery as the world's first.
China will extend its visa-exemption arrangements to France and other countries covered by the policy to Dec 31, 2026.
