MEDIA RELEASE
11 October 2023

SINGAPORE AND JAPAN CLINICIAN-SCIENTISTSCOLLABORATE ON GROUNDBREAKING TELESURGERY
TRIAL SPANNING OVER 5,000KM
This preclinical trial surgery involves clinician-scientists in NUS Medicine andthe National University Hospital in partnership with Fujita Health University
SINGAPORE — Picture this: in a sterile operating room in Nagoya, Japan, roboticarms move with astonishing precision as they prepare to perform a complex
laparoscopic surgical procedure.
What makes this scenario truly remarkable is the surprise twist—it's not the surgicalteam in Nagoya controlling these robotic arms.
Instead, they are being orchestrated by surgeons located over 5,000km away in theAdvanced Surgery Training Centre at Singapore’s National University Hospital (NUH),
the teaching hospital of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National Universityof Singapore (NUS Medicine).
In this extraordinary fusion of technology and medical expertise, clinician-scientists
from Singapore and Japan are embarking on an exciting new collaboration - robotic
telesurgery, aided by recent developments in advanced surgical robots and network
telecommunication technology.
NUS Medicine and NUH are collaborating with Fujita Health University (FHU) in its firstrobotic telesurgery trial between Singapore and Japan, from 9 to 11 October 2023.
Leveraging Japan's first surgical robot, clinician-scientists from NUH and NUS
Medicine will remotely perform a gastrectomy (stomach surgery performed for cancer)
from a surgeon cockpit in Singapore. The surgeons' movements will be transmitted,directed, and replicated by a robotic operation unit located in Japan via a dedicatedinternational fiber-optic network, all performed on a simulated organ (refer to Annex A
for technical details on the remote surgery setup and connection).
This collaboration follows the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in August2023 between NUS Medicine and FHU, one of Japan’s leading universities with astrong research focus in robotic surgery and telesurgery. The MOU aims to deepen
academic partnership through active joint collaborations, including the execution of
remote surgical experiments, and by promoting mutual exchange activities such as
student exchange programmes.

1Harnessing the potential of telesurgery
The two gastric surgeons leading the demonstration in Singapore are Professor
Jimmy So from the Department of Surgery, NUS Medicine, and Senior Consultant in
the Department of Surgery, NUH, as well as Assistant Professor Kim Guowei fromthe Department of Surgery, NUS Medicine, and Consultant in the Department ofSurgery at the NUH.
In Japan, the surgical team is led by Professor Ichiro Uyama and Professor Koichi
Suda from Fujita Health University.
Tapping on FHU’s vast expertise in robotic surgery, this latest project aims to evaluate,clarify and address the potential issues arising from such remote surgeries.
The preclinical trial – involving a series of complex gastrectomy procedures conductedby both teams – aims to prove that long-distance robotic telesurgery for technicallydemanding procedures can be safely conducted using a robotic system connected byhigh-speed fiber-optic communication.
While robotic surgery is not new in Singapore, this collaboration between NUS
Medicine, NUH and FHU marks a critical step towards making remote surgeries anaccessible option to patients in the near future.
Professor Jimmy So, who led the surgical team in Singapore, said, “Remotetelesurgery offers immense potential to enhance global access to specialised care,
reduce travel and wait times for patients, minimise health risks during emergencies
and pandemics, and foster training and collaboration among medical professionals
worldwide. It also contributes to improved surgical expertise for complex cases,
particularly benefiting underserved areas.”
During public health crises, such as a global pandemic, remote telesurgery helps
minimise the risk of disease transmission between patients, healthcare workers, andsurgical teams. Surgeons can perform surgeries from a safe location, reducing thepotential for infection spread.
Such forms of surgery also help promote tele-mentoring or distance learning in medical
education, allowing young doctors and medical students to learn surgical techniquesand skills from lecturers and medical experts based not only in a different part ofSingapore, but also anywhere in the world.
Assistant Professor Kim Guowei added, “In partnering with our Japanese colleagues,
we hope to advance and unlock the potential of telesurgery for patients and doctors
alike. This continuous exchange of knowledge, advanced surgical techniques, andbest practices across borders contributes to improving surgical expertise andoutcomes.”

2Chinese Glossary
National University Hospital (NUH)
National University of Singapore (NUS)
NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine(NUS Medicine)

国立大学医院 (国大医院)
新加坡国立大学
新加坡国立大学杨潞龄医学院（国大杨潞龄医学院）
藤田医科大学
苏博欣教授

Fujita Health University
Professor Jimmy So

Department of Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin 杨潞龄医学院外科系
School of Medicine (NUS Medicine)新加坡国立大学
Head and Senior Consultant, Division ofGeneral Surgery (Upper GastrointestinalSurgery), Department of Surgery,
National University Hospital (NUH)

上肠胃外科主任兼高级顾问医生
国立大学医院

Assistant Professor Kim Guowei

金国伟助理教授

Consultant, Division of General Surgery(Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery),
Department of Surgery, NationalUniversity Hospital (NUH)

上肠胃外科顾问医生
国立大学医院

Department of Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin杨潞龄医学院外科系
School of Medicine (NUS Medicine)新加坡国立大学
Professor Ichiro Uyama
宇山一朗教授Professor and Head of Advanced Robotic
尖端机器人及内窥镜外科主任
and Endoscopic Surgery, Fujita Health藤田医科大学医学院
University School of Medicine
Professor Koichi Suda
Professor and Head, Divisions of GI &HPB Surgery, Department of Surgery,Fujita Health University

須田康一教授综合消化道外科主任
藤田医科大学For media enquiries, please contact:
HOI Wan Theng
Senior Manager, GroupCommunications
National University Health System
Mobile: 9030 8432
Email: wan_theng_hoi@nuhs.edu.sgAmanda YAP
Assistant Manager, Communications
NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Mobile: 8157 0881
Email: medajyjy@nus.edu.sg

3About National University of Singapore (NUS)
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore’s flagship university, which
offers a global approach to education, research and entrepreneurship, with a focus on
Asian perspectives and expertise. We have 16 colleges, faculties and schools acrossthree campuses in Singapore, with more than 40,000 students from 100 countries
enriching our vibrant and diverse campus community. We have also established morethan 20 NUS Overseas Colleges entrepreneurial hubs around the world.
Our multidisciplinary and real-world approach to education, research andentrepreneurship enables us to work closely with industry, governments and academia
to address crucial and complex issues relevant to Asia and the world. Researchers in
our faculties, research centres of excellence, corporate labs and more than 30
university-level research institutes focus on themes that include energy; environmental
and urban sustainability; treatment and prevention of diseases; active ageing;advanced materials; risk management and resilience of financial systems; Asianstudies; and Smart Nation capabilities such as artificial intelligence, data science,operations research and cybersecurity.
For more information on NUS, please visit nus.edu.sg.
About the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine)
The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine is Singapore’s first and largest medicalschool. Our enduring mission centres on nurturing highly competent, values-driven andinspired healthcare professionals to transform the practice of medicine and improvehealth around the world.
Through a dynamic and future-oriented five-year curriculum that is inter-disciplinary
and inter-professional in nature, our students undergo a holistic learning experiencethat exposes them to multiple facets of healthcare and prepares them to become
visionary leaders and compassionate doctors and nurses of tomorrow. Since theSchool’s founding in 1905, more than 12,000 graduates have passed through ourdoors.
In our pursuit of health for all, our strategic research programmes focus on innovative,
cutting-edge biomedical research with collaborators around the world to deliver highimpact solutions to benefit human lives.
The School is the oldest institution of higher learning in the National University ofSingapore and a founding institutional member of the National University Health
System. It is one of Asia’s leading medical schools and ranks among the best in theworld (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 by subject and theQuacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by subject 2023).
For more information about NUS Medicine, please visit https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/.

4About National University Hospital (NUH)
The National University Hospital (NUH) is Singapore’s leading university hospital.
While the hospital at Kent Ridge first received its patients on 24 June 1985, our legacy
started from 1905, the date of the founding of what is today the NUS Yong Loo Lin
School of Medicine. NUH is the principal teaching hospital of the medical school.
Our unique identity as a university hospital is a key attraction for healthcare
professionals who aspire to do more than practise tertiary medical care. We offer anenvironment where research and teaching are an integral part of medicine, andcontinue to shape medicine and transform care for the community we care for.
We are an academic medical centre with over 1,200 beds, serving more than one
million patients a year with over 50 medical, surgical and dental specialties. NUH isthe only public and not-for-profit hospital in Singapore to provide trusted care for adults,
women and children under one roof, including the only paediatric kidney and livertransplant programme in the country.
The NUH is a key member of the National University Health System (NUHS), one ofthree public healthcare clusters in Singapore.

5Annex A
Telesurgery setting and connection between NUS Medicine, NUH and FHU
The surgical robot comprises a surgeon cockpit with a manipulator and operation unit
with four arms for instruments, including a camera scope.
This robot became the first robotic-assisted surgery system created in Japan to obtainregulatory approval from the Japanese authorities in August 2020.
Fig. 1 Surgical Robot System.

Surgeon’s console

Operating cart

6

Fig. 2 The network map and distance covered.

Fig. 3 The tele-surgical setting and connection between NUS Medicine/NUH inSingapore and Fujita Health University in Japan. In Singapore, this surgical robotic
system is being supported by internet connectivity, provided by Singapore Advanced
Research and Education Network (SingAREN).
This cross-collaboration, robotic telesurgery endeavor is made possible by the WIDE
Project, whose aim is to bring researchers together through a robust interdisciplinary
research network.

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