Case Study 1: Operation Lindberg

On September 7, 2001, a 68-year-old woman (from Strasbourg, France) who had a recurring case of abdominal pain gave her consent to receive a laparoscopic cholecystectomy via telesurgery with her surgeon operating from New York, USA.

 Prior to the Strasbourg-New York surgery, multiple tests had been run between Strasbourg and Paris (1000 km) in 2000 with only a time delay of 200 milliseconds; by July 2001, tests were being done between Strasbourg and New York and the time delay had been reduced to 150 milliseconds.

Technology was set up between the two countries using ATM technology which has a 99.99% chance of having no network outages; as well, a separate bandwidth was reserved for the doctors to ensure that visual contact had little chance of being lost. To further decrease the risk of image or control outages, another backup connection was also created.

On the day of the operation, surgeons based in Manhattan performed the cholectstectomy while doctors in Strasbourg assisted the robotic surgeon (such as inserting clips) and monitored the status of the patient; throughout the procedure, a phone line allowed continuous communication between the two bases. The surgery took a mere 54 minutes, and this was all done with no complications and only a 155 ms time lag during the operation, which is considered small compared to the round distance total being 14 000 km. As well, the patient recovered within 2 weeks with no complications.

When the NY surgeons were asked to rate the surgery on a scale of 0 to 10 (with 10 being the best), the average visual score was a 9.5 while the “perception of the safety” (Marescaux et al., 2002, p. 3) (i.e. confidence in and reliability of the machine) received a full 10. (Marexcaux et al., 2002, p. 3)

In summary, “robotic and computer technologies have the potential to enhance precision and dexterity. “ (Marescaux et al, 2002, p. 3).