Global trends and insights of telesurgery research: a bibliometric analysis of publications since the 21st century

Guangdi Chu^#¹, Bo Guan^#^{2

3}, Xiaoyu Ji^#⁴, Xue Yu⁵, Ruonan Yang⁶, Sevval Besli⁷, Jianchang Zhao⁸, Yuan Gao^{2

3}, Jianning Wang⁹, Shuxin Wang^{10

11}, Jianmin Li^{12

13}, Haitao Niu^{14

15}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
² Institute of Medical Robotics and Intelligent Systems of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
⁴ Department of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Center, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁵ Qingdao Sixth People's Hospital, Qingdao, China.
⁶ Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁷ Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
⁸ National Engineering Research Center of Neuromodulation, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁹ Department of Urology, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation and Nephrosis, The First Affliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Institute of Nephrology, Jinan, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China. shuxinw@tju.edu.cn.
¹¹ Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. shuxinw@tju.edu.cn.
¹² Institute of Medical Robotics and Intelligent Systems of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China. mjli@tju.edu.cn.
¹³ Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China. mjli@tju.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China. niuht0532@126.com.
¹⁵ Institute of Medical Robotics and Intelligent Systems of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China. niuht0532@126.com.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 40229598
DOI: 10.1007/s00464-025-11697-2

Global trends and insights of telesurgery research: a bibliometric analysis of publications since the 21st century

Guangdi Chu et al. Surg Endosc. 2025 May.

. 2025 May;39(5):3259-3284.

doi: 10.1007/s00464-025-11697-2. Epub 2025 Apr 14.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
² Institute of Medical Robotics and Intelligent Systems of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
⁴ Department of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Center, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁵ Qingdao Sixth People's Hospital, Qingdao, China.
⁶ Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁷ Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
⁸ National Engineering Research Center of Neuromodulation, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁹ Department of Urology, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation and Nephrosis, The First Affliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Institute of Nephrology, Jinan, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China. shuxinw@tju.edu.cn.
¹¹ Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. shuxinw@tju.edu.cn.
¹² Institute of Medical Robotics and Intelligent Systems of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China. mjli@tju.edu.cn.
¹³ Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China. mjli@tju.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China. niuht0532@126.com.
¹⁵ Institute of Medical Robotics and Intelligent Systems of Tianjin University, Tianjin, China. niuht0532@126.com.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 40229598
DOI: 10.1007/s00464-025-11697-2

Abstract

Background: In recent years, telesurgery has shown a rapid development trend as an innovative surgical technique, and been applied to the clinical treatment of various tumor diseases. However, the current research on telesurgery is still relatively fragmented, lacking a systematic summary of its development and future directions. Addressing these limitations is crucial for advancing the application of this novel surgical technology.

Methods: This bibliometric study of publications related to telesurgery that were indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2000 to 2024. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix were used to analyze and visually represent the gathered data, and the relevant content was presented according to the BIBLIO guidelines.

Results: We researched 565 publications across 269 journals authored by 2422 individuals affiliated with 917 institutions spanning 62 countries. Notably, the United States leads in the number of publications, with China also making noteworthy contributions. Kyushu University and the University of Washington emerge as prominent institutions in terms of research output within this domain. Analysis of document co-occurrence and co-citation reveals that Jacques Marescaux from France holds the top position globally among authors and wields significant influence in this field. Keyword analysis indicates that key future research directions in this area include mitigating latency issues in telesurgery, integrating advanced network communication technologies, and enhancing the performance of telesurgical robots. Furthermore, ethical and legal issues associated with telesurgery may emerge as critical challenges to be addressed for its further expansion and application.

Conclusion: This research provides an overview of telesurgery research findings, encompassing the evolution of research priorities in telesurgery. The study anticipates that the secure implementation and broader adoption of telesurgery will bring more benefits to patients on a global scale.

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; Research trends; Telemedicine; Telesurgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Disclosure: Drs. Guangdi Chu, Bo Guan, Xiaoyu Ji, Xue Yu, Ruonan Yang, Sevval Besli, Jianchang Zhao, Yuan Gao, Jianning Wang, Shuxin Wang, Jianmin Li, and Haitao Niu have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

References

1. Larcher A, Belladelli F, Capitanio U, Montorsi F (2023) Long-distance robot-assisted teleoperation: every millisecond counts. Eur Urol 83:45–47 - PubMed - DOI
1. Gu L, Yin C, Jia T, He K, Ma X, Zhang X (2023) Robotic surgery in China. Innovation (Camb) 4:100499 - PubMed
1. Barba P, Stramiello J, Funk EK, Richter F, Yip MC, Orosco RK (2022) Remote telesurgery in humans: a systematic review. Surg Endosc 36:2771–2777 - PubMed - PMC - DOI
1. Lin G, Lue TF (2023) Revolutionizing laparoscopic telesurgery: the emergence of 5G-assisted wireless endoscopy systems. Curr Urol 17:82–83 - PubMed - PMC - DOI
1. Jin ML, Brown MM, Patwa D, Nirmalan A, Edwards PA (2021) Telemedicine, telementoring, and telesurgery for surgical practices. Curr Probl Surg 58:100986 - PubMed - DOI

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Global trends and insights of telesurgery research: a bibliometric analysis of publications since the 21st century

Affiliations

Global trends and insights of telesurgery research: a bibliometric analysis of publications since the 21st century

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical