Nigeria has recorded its first tele-robotic surgery, bringing advanced medical technology closer to patients.
The breakthrough involved a cancerous kidney tumour and connected doctors in Ogun State with a patient in Abuja.
The operation showed how surgeons can use technology to provide specialist care across long distances.
Redeemer’s Health Village (RHV) carried out the procedure with RoboMed Global.
Professor Ekwenna Davis performed the surgery remotely from Mowe, Ogun State.
The patient remained at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja, about 500 kilometres away.
Davis used a Toumai robotic system to control the surgery in real time.
The operation involved a robot-assisted right radical nephrectomy to remove the cancerous kidney tumour.
It lasted for about three hours and depended on a stable internet connection.
Starlink provided the main connection, while MTN served as backup during the procedure.
The successful tele-robotic surgery could change how Nigerians access highly specialised medical treatment.
Davis, a Professor of Urology and Transplantation, described the procedure as an early test of what technology can offer.
“The procedure we did was a telesurgery procedure where we were able to operate on a patient in Abuja, 500 kilometres away,” he said.
“This is just the beginning. It is a test, a pilot, of how innovation and technology can really help patients,” Davis added.
According to Davis, the technology could reduce the need for patients to travel abroad for complex treatment.
It could also allow Nigerian doctors living abroad to support patients back home.
However, he noted that internet problems and bad weather could affect remote surgeries.
He stressed the need for strong infrastructure and proper safety measures before wider use.
RHV board chairman, Dr Kunle Onakoya, explained that the robot does not perform surgery by itself.
“The robot is still being controlled by a human being, by a very experienced and senior surgeon. It is just that the skills of that surgeon are now being magnified many times over by the robot,” he said.
RHV is a 300-bed multispecialty hospital founded by the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
