From China to Armenia: Historic Cross-Continental Telesurgery Performed at Slavmed Medical Center.

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Operating from Shanghai, China—across a distance of more than 6,800 km via a 9,000-km fiber-optic link—Dr. Levon Grigoryan, Head of the Robotic Surgery and Endoscopy Department at Slavmed Medical Center, successfully performed remote abdominal wall hernia repairs on two patients using advanced 3D mesh prostheses. 

From MicroPort MedBot’s headquarters in Shanghai, Dr. Grigoryan remotely controlled the robotic surgical system located in Yerevan, while Slavmed’s on-site medical and engineering teams inside the operating theater ensured a flawless, uninterrupted procedure. This milestone represents a monumental leap forward for medical technology, international cooperation, and the clinical capabilities of Armenian specialists. By effectively erasing geographical boundaries to deliver high-quality healthcare, this operation serves as a blueprint for the future of medicine—a future that is actively taking shape in Armenia. 

“This achievement is a testament to the exceptional professional capabilities of Slavmed Medical Center and our consistent efforts to bring cutting-edge medical technologies to Armenia. It proves that in modern medicine, distance is no longer a barrier to top-tier surgical expertise. We are confident that initiatives like this firmly establish Armenia’s role on the international medical stage,” said Armine Hovakimyan, Founder and CEO of Slavmed Medical Center. 

Thanks to this technological breakthrough, surgeons can now operate regardless of their physical location, ensuring unparalleled precision, control, and patient safety. Seamless connectivity and hardware reliability are the core pillars of successful telesurgery.

To ensure success, extensive technical simulations and organizational protocols were executed prior to the operations. Patient safety was guaranteed through a multi-layered redundancy system, featuring backup communication channels in the event of a network disruption, alongside dedicated engineering and surgical teams stationed simultaneously at both global locations. 

According to Dr. Grigoryan, these interventions are entirely unique in their format and unlock unprecedented opportunities for the evolution of surgical care in Armenia. “With this achievement, Armenia joins the ranks of the world's most advanced nations. From now on, we can stand by our patients from any corner of the globe where a compatible robotic system is available. Patient safety remains our absolute priority, which is why Slavmed is equipped with ultra-precise robotic surgical systems and ultra-high-speed communication networks. Only with this level of technical infrastructure and a highly skilled surgical team can cross-continental operations be conducted with total precision and real-time oversight.

” The Toumai robotic system, newly introduced at Slavmed, played a critical role in the operations. It features Armenia’s only dedicated module purpose-built for remote telesurgery, powered by the medical center’s specialized high-speed internet infrastructure.Inside the operating theater in Yerevan, the procedures were monitored by Slavmed’s multidisciplinary robotic surgical team, who stood ready to take over manual control at any millisecond if required, ensuring absolute on-site safety. 

Dr. Narek Amiryan, a general and endoscopic surgeon at Slavmed Medical Center, noted: “We stress-tested the system multiple times and prepared meticulously. Today, we can proudly state that the technology successfully conquered a distance of thousands of kilometers. Both operations were a definitive success. 

”Dr. Chao He, Founder and CEO of MicroPort MedBot, added: “Robotic telesurgery is more than just a technological milestone; it opens new frontiers for international clinical collaboration and the global exchange of surgical expertise. The exceptional training and technical proficiency of the Slavmed Medical Center team were pivotal to the success of this historic intervention.

”Slavmed Medical Center was the first institution in Armenia to pioneer robotic surgery and establish a specialized, multidisciplinary robotic team. Following the country's first-ever robotic operations on December 19, 2025, the center has demonstrated rapid growth, continuously expanding its portfolio of complex robotic interventions.Earlier this year, on July 10, 2026, Slavmed also hosted Armenia’s first international robotic telesurgery. During that milestone, Professor Alexandre Mottrie, Head of the Urology Department at OLV Hospital in Aalst and CEO of the ORSI Academy, successfully operated on a patient at Slavmed remotely from Belgium, across a distance of more than 3,300 km.