Number of the day - 1500 miles
"A surgeon in London says he has performed the UK's first long‑distance robotic operation on a patient located 1,500 miles (2,400km) away in Gibraltar. Leading robotic urological surgeon Professor Prokar Dasgupta said it felt "almost as if I was there" as he carried out a prostate removal on Paul Buxton. The cancer patient, 62, said it had been a "no-brainer" to take part and become "part of medical history". It is hoped that remote robotic surgery could spare future patients the "vast expense and inconvenience" of travelling for treatment, and help deliver better healthcare to people in more remote locations. UK surgeons have taken part in major telesurgery breakthroughs, including a 4,000‑mile transatlantic robotic stroke procedure on a cadaver - a body of someone who has donated themselves to science - proving long‑distance surgery was technically possible. " Source: BBC
