RESEARCHERS at the University of Dundee have performed a robotic transatlantic thrombectomy, starting a new chapter for remote stroke treatment.
This came after Professor Iris Grunwald, director of the Image Guided Therapy Research Facility (IGTRF), performed the first remote thrombectomy on a human cadaver.
Using a robot developed by the Lithuanian MedTech company Sentante, Professor Grunwald proved a blood clot could be removed without a specialist present remotely.
Following the development, the groundbreaking moment occurred when Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, used Sentante’s device to perform the first transatlantic thrombectomy on the cadaver from Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Sentante uses wires and catheters connected to a device with a magnified sensory system for the surgeon’s hand movements.
These movements are copied in real time by a robot at the patient’s bedside.
Sentante sends authentic feedback directly to the surgeon’s fingertips – recreating the experience of manual surgery.
Professor Grunwald stated: “As a neurointerventionist, it is remarkable to feel the same fine control and resistance through a robotic interface as during a live procedure.”
Sentante’s technology truly bridges the gap between operator and patient, no matter the distance.”
Each year, there are about 15 million strokes worldwide. For the UK, the total cost is about £26bn yearly, including £8.6bn for the NHS and social care.
Thrombectomy is considered the most effective way to treat patients with stroke caused by a large, blocked brain vessel.
However, in many parts of the world, less than 1% of patients receive this life-saving treatment.
In 2024, only 212 patients received a Thrombectomy across Scotland. This represents 2.2% of patients who had an ischemic stroke.
Professor Grunwald continued: “By the time patients reach a specialist centre, there’s often no brain left to save. Every six-minute delay in receiving treatment equates to a 1% lesser chance of a good outcome.”
The professor explains that expanding the expertise through specialty training could help experts operate remotely.
Dr Hanel added: “Tele neurointervention will allow us to decrease the gap and further our reach to provide one of the most impactful procedures in humankind – the thrombectomy – to more people.”
“To operate from the US to Scotland with a 120 millisecond lag is truly remarkable.”
The IGTRF is the official world training centre for doctors at the World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment.
The facility offers an imaging environment that works in collaboration with Dundee’s Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID).
This is in order to provide interventional training, medical device testing, and research opportunities.
Edvardas Satkauskas, co-founder and CEO of Sentante, stated: “The human cadaveric models at Dundee are fantastic.
“This is the reason we have worked with them – this is probably the only site in the world that can do this type of research.”
“For an ischaemic stroke, the difference between walking out of hospital and a lifetime of disability can be just two to three hours.”
“With Sentante, the specialist comes to the patient over a secure network and performs the entire procedure remotely – with the same tactile feel and control they have at the bedside.”
Sentante’s robotic platform is advancing through regulatory pathways for peripheral vascular interventions, with the FDA granting Breakthrough Device Designation for its stroke system.
The Dundee collaboration marks the next milestone, showing how robotics can remove distance as a barrier to life-saving care.
