Indian-American surgeon Dr. Vipul Patel has achieved a major medical milestone by performing the first fully US-based inter-hospital telerobotic prostate surgery, operating on a patient located 56 kilometres away in Florida.
Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration, performed the procedure remotely from an AdventHealth facility in the community of Celebration, near Orlando. The patient, a 66-year-old man identified as Mark, was at another AdventHealth facility in Minneola, Florida, where surgeons removed a cancerous prostate.
The operation was conducted as part of a clinical research study evaluating an investigational robotic telesurgery system. The study was carried out under a US Food and Drug Administration-approved Investigational Device Exemption. Surgeon Marcio Moschovas, the study’s co-principal investigator, provided onsite support to the patient during the procedure.
According to AdventHealth, the surgery was completed successfully, and the patient was recovering well. Patel operated the system developed by MicroPort MedBot. He has previously performed more than 21,000 robotic prostatectomies.
Telesurgery combines robotic technology with communications infrastructure, allowing a surgeon to control surgical instruments while physically separated from the patient. The approach is being investigated for its potential to expand access to specialized medical care, particularly for patients who live far from experienced surgical teams.
Following the procedure, Patel described the achievement as a step toward a new era of surgery. He said the study would help researchers evaluate whether telesurgery could reduce geographic barriers to specialized treatment, while emphasizing that questions about safety, effectiveness and technical performance remain under investigation.
“We are entering a new era of surgery,” Patel said. He added that the future of the field would involve combining human expertise, robotics and technology to expand what is possible for patients around the world.
Doug Harcombe, CEO of AdventHealth’s Central Florida South Market, said the organization aims to extend healing and hope to patients regardless of where they live. He noted that its focus remains on improving outcomes, strengthening communities and reaching more families.
The procedure followed 10 other investigational telesurgeries conducted between Orlando, Florida, and Luanda, Angola. AdventHealth said the latest operation was the first attempted fully within the United States, marking a significant step in the evaluation of remote robotic surgery.
