Doctors at a British hospital have carried out the first heart rhythm operation using a remote-controlled robot and say its success means patients could be treated by doctors in other cities, or even other countries. Andre Ng, a consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital who performed the procedure on Wednesday from outside the operating theater, told Reuters it went very well and the patient's irregular heart rhythm was restored to normal within an hour. Robotic surgery is becoming more common in wealthy nations and can be used on patients suffering from gynaecological cancer, coronary artery disease, kidney cancer, and bladder cancer. Ng said he was the first doctor in the world to carry out this type of remote-controlled operation on a human patient using a system called a Remote Catheter Manipulation System.
