First teleoperated (robotic) surgery on a patient.

"On March 3, 1997, I successfully performed the first “robotic” laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a 52-year old female patient who suffered from symptomatic cholecystolithiasis.[2] I performed the surgery at some 10 yards away from the patient, while sitting at the master’s console. In the meantime, a second surgeon, Dr. Guido Leman, was standing at the patient’s side to hold the camera and to provide assistance in case of technical mishaps. The effector system consisted of two articulated robot arms to which the sterile tools had been snapped. At the time, the tools consisted of a grasper and a coagulating hook mounted at the end of articulated “endo-wrist” mechanisms that had been introduced inside the patient’s abdomen through conventional trocar cannula’s placed by the first author at the beginning of the procedure. The procedure was performed under guidance of a 3D optical system that required the use of adjusting goggles to obtain an in-depth view of the surgical field.

"Minor problems were encountered, such as imperfect insolation of the hook that had to be covered by the tip of a glove that was tied to the endo-wrist system. The grasper tip (the grasper was actually a needle holder) was found to be too sharp to allow common use. However, the procedure was concluded successfully in 65 minutes, and the patient made an uneventful recovery" (Jacques Himpens, "My experience performing the first telesurgical procedure in the world," Bariatric Times, April 1, 2016).