May 23, 2026 marks a new chapter in digital surgery and remote medical care. Evangelos Liatsikos, Professor of Urology at the University of Patras, Evangelos Liatsikos, performed a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy from Wuhan, China, on a patient located in Athens. 

This achievement is not merely a technological demonstration; it shows how specialized medical expertise can transcend geographical boundaries and reach where it is needed. It opens up opportunities for international collaboration, the transfer of expertise, and patient access to high-quality surgical care, with safety and precision.

Speaking on the Alpha News program, urologist and professor of medicine Dr. Evangelos Liatsikos explains that robotic radical prostatectomy has been performed for many years; the innovation lies in the fact that communication links allow the robotic console to be transported to any location on the planet.

As he notes, the reason China was chosen is that the country is a pioneer in this technology and a conference was underway there, with the procedure being broadcast to the conference.

He explains that the success of this endeavor is linked to advances in communications technology, with the connection being established via ultra-high-precision, high-priority fiber-optic cables linking China and Europe.

“Now, with the advancements in communication technology, a center can be set up anywhere, and a surgeon can be located anywhere.”

In the event of a network outage, the doctor at the patient’s side is properly trained, so the patient is not put at risk.

“We’re moving from telediagnosis to telesurgery, and for this to happen, the millisecond delay must be imperceptible to the human eye. When the surgeon moves his hand, the movement must correspond—at least visually—to the movement occurring in the patient. A year ago, this was not possible.”

The doctor points out that beyond the fact that this was once considered a science-fiction scenario, it is the boundaries that are now being broken.

“The fact is that boundaries are now being broken down. One surgeon can train another surgeon from a distance. The surgeon doesn’t need to travel to the other surgeon’s location. He does it from his own office. A patient who used to want to go abroad for surgery may no longer need to travel abroad but can instead have the surgery performed locally by their doctor from abroad.”

He emphasizes that a specialized, direct connection without interference is required. He notes that other medical specialties have begun to adopt telesurgery and that the next step is to incorporate emergency procedures.

“If there’s even the slightest delay that’s visible to the human eye, this can’t be done. Because, you see, when I move my hand, some people think the robot moves on its own. It doesn’t move on its own. It’s a master-slave system. In other words, if I make a wrong move, the robot doesn’t think for itself—it follows my movement. So, you see, when I make a movement with my hand and don’t see the corresponding movement on the monitor at the same time, that creates a problem for me. Because I can’t respond to the situation immediately and in real time. So, connectivity is the most important part. It has to be such that the delay isn’t visible to the human eye.”

As he notes, starting in September, he’ll be able to perform surgeries on patients in Athens from his office in Patras.

When asked if he has a connection in Cyprus, he seems confident that the technology will also be “established” there

“Advances in surgery will be rapid in the coming years. And that’s what makes it so interesting for us surgeons—we never get bored with our work. Just imagine that very soon—in five or ten years—we’ll be talking about automated surgical procedures.”