World's First Robot-Assisted Heart Transplantation Animal Experiment Completed at Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University

Background

End-stage heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump blood sufficiently to meet the body's needs, frequently leaving transplantation as a primary treatment option for suitable patients. Traditional heart transplantation requires a sternotomy, involving a large vertical incision through the breastbone to provide open access to the heart. This method, while effective, involves substantial surgical trauma, elevated risks of infection and bleeding, longer recovery times, and extended intensive care stays.

What was achieved

Between May 23 and 25, 2025, a team from The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University led by Professor Yang Sumin completed the world's first robot-assisted heart transplantation animal experiment at the Shanghai Yin Snake Clinical Center. Using three live pigs as models and the fourth-generation da Vinci Xi robotic system, the team performed the full procedural sequence in a minimally invasive manner. This encompassed heart harvesting from the donor, all vascular anastomoses in the recipient, restarting the transplanted heart, hemostasis, and postoperative functional assessment.

The procedures were completed through small 8-10 cm intercostal incisions without full sternotomy. Professor Yang Sumin stated that the robotic system's millimeter-level precision and three-dimensional magnified vision significantly improved the accuracy of suturing deep tissues, particularly important anastomotic sites such as the left atrium and aorta, while reducing damage to surrounding tissues. Postoperative results showed stable vital signs in the animals, good cardiac function, and no bleeding at the anastomoses, validating the technique's feasibility and safety. At the time, the hospital's cardiovascular surgery team had completed more than 550 robot-assisted cardiac surgeries covering complex procedures including congenital defect repair, valve repair or replacement, coronary artery bypass grafting, and cardiac tumor resection, along with 65 heart transplants.

How it works

In conventional heart transplantation, surgeons divide the sternum to gain direct access, remove the diseased heart, and manually suture the donor heart to the recipient's major vessels and chambers. The anastomoses, especially those involving the posterior left atrium and other deep structures, are technically demanding due to limited visibility and working space within the chest cavity.

In the robotic approach demonstrated in this experiment, the surgeon sits at a separate console and manipulates the da Vinci Xi system's robotic arms, which are inserted via small incisions and ports between the ribs. The system delivers a high-definition, three-dimensional magnified view of the internal anatomy and translates the surgeon's hand movements into precise, tremor-free actions by the instruments. This enables fine suturing of the heart chambers and vessels—including the left atrium, aorta, pulmonary artery, superior vena cava, and inferior vena cava—in a confined space. The experiment applied this to both minimally invasive donor heart procurement and recipient implantation, followed by weaning from bypass, heart reanimation, and assessment, avoiding the large open-chest incision of traditional surgery.

What it means for international patients

The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University maintains an International Medical Department that organizes senior experts to provide medical services to foreign patients, overseas visitors, and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. This includes appointment-based consultations with specialists, located on the fifth floor of the outpatient building at 16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao. The department has offered such services for years, with dedicated hotlines for scheduling.

The animal experiment provides technical validation for robotic assistance in heart transplantation, a field in which the hospital's cardiovascular surgery team already possesses substantial clinical experience. No clinical application of robot-assisted heart transplantation in human patients at this hospital was reported in sources covering the 2025 animal study. International patients interested in care for end-stage heart failure, heart transplantation, or robotic cardiac procedures must contact the hospital's international department directly to confirm current availability, specific eligibility requirements, and applicable services.

About the hospital

The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University is a comprehensive tertiary hospital located in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. It is affiliated with Qingdao University, serving roles in clinical care, medical education, and scientific research. The hospital maintains an English-language website section detailing its International Outpatient services for foreign patients.

Its cardiovascular surgery department is a national clinical key specialty construction project unit. The team has established a record in robotic-assisted cardiac surgery and heart transplantation, with Professor Yang Sumin, director of the cardiovascular center and cardiovascular surgery, recognized for leading volumes in da Vinci robotic heart procedures nationally in earlier years and for performing Qingdao's first heart transplant in 2016. The hospital's international medical services focus on access to senior specialists across departments.