{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T20:16:22Z","timestamp":1778271382903,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778198400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased globally. In recent years, robotic surgical systems have been applied in thyroid surgery, and the rapid development of fifth-generation (5G) communication technology has laid a solid foundation for the smooth implementation of remote surgery. Objective: The aim was to explore the feasibility and safety of telerobotic radical thyroidectomy using 5G communication technology to treat thyroid cancer. Methods: From August 2024 to October 2024, telerobotic radical thyroidectomy was performed on seven female patients using a 5G wireless network and a dedicated line network (or ordinary wired broadband) spanning 22\u20132200 km. The patients\u2019 clinical and information transmission data were analyzed. Results: All patients (papillary thyroid carcinoma, female, with an average age of 44.0 \u00b1 4.6 years) underwent uneventful surgical procedures without any transfer to open surgery or complications. The average surgical duration was 91.3 \u00b1 11.8 min, the average blood loss was 11.4 \u00b1 4.8 mL, and the average postoperative hospital stay was 3.6 \u00b1 0.8 days. All subjects were successfully discharged within 5 days after surgery. The average total latency time of the intraoperative network was 137.5 (range, 121\u2013159) ms, and there were no adverse events, such as network disconnection, frame loss, or network attacks. The operator worked smoothly without any obvious delay or lag, and the recorded audio and video are clear. Conclusions: Telerobotic radical thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer over a 5G network demonstrates promising feasibility and safety. With stable network transmission and a clear surgical field, the precise operations required in thyroid surgery can be performed reliably. These findings suggest that this technology can facilitate high-quality surgical care in remote areas, contributing to a more balanced distribution of medical resources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15103591","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T19:10:52Z","timestamp":1778267452000},"page":"3591","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Pilot Study of Telerobotic Radical Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Cancer Using a 5G Network"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Bing","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zheng","family":"Wan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, the 960th Hospital of PLA Joint Logistics Support Force, Jinan 250031, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, the 960th Hospital of PLA Joint Logistics Support Force, Jinan 250031, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanbing","family":"Jian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zelong","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Miao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Linlin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fei","family":"Kuang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lin","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guolou","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Weifang 261041, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qingqing","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, the 960th Hospital of PLA Joint Logistics Support Force, Jinan 250031, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-6925-5300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jing","family":"Yao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wen","family":"Tian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Department of General Surgery, the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"229","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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