A doctor in Florida has successfully carried out surgery on a cancer patient in Africa using a robot, even though they were thousands of miles apart.

Dr. Vipul Patel, who leads the Global Robotic Institute at Advent Health in Orlando, used the robotic system to perform prostate surgery on Fernando da Silva, a 67-year-old patient in Angola. The surgery happened in June after da Silva was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March.

Prostate cancer is common in Africa, but it’s often not properly diagnosed or treated. Dr. Patel said this new surgery method could make a big difference. He added that the success of the operation came after two years of hard work and research around the world to find the best technology.

This was the first time a human clinical trial approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was used to test this kind of long-distance surgery.

Usually, robotic surgeries are done with the doctor close to the patient. But this time, Dr. Patel controlled the robot from the U.S., using high-speed fiber optic cables. He said there was no noticeable delay while he operated, and everything worked smoothly.

To be safe, a team of surgeons stayed in the operating room with the patient in Angola in case something went wrong with the connection. Dr. Patel explained that they had backup plans ready and could take over if needed.

He called the surgery “a small step for a surgeon, but a big leap for healthcare,” pointing out how important this achievement could be for helping people in remote or underserved areas.

Dr. Patel also mentioned that even people in rural parts of the U.S. might benefit from this technology in the future. He shared a vision where emergency room doctors or even ambulances could connect with expert surgeons from far away to save lives.

He plans to share the data from this surgery with the FDA to try and get approval to perform more remote surgeries in the future.