Hong Kong doctors have performed the world’s first robotic living-donor liver transplant as part of a pioneering microsurgery programme, researchers have revealed.
Sharing results of the clinical trial on Wednesday, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) team said surgeons at Queen Mary Hospital had completed 48 procedures since June 2025, with no long-term or post-operative complications.
Microsurgery, which requires surgeons to operate under high-powered magnification on structures as fine as 0.1 mm, is frequently used to join blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and nerves.
Dr Velda Chow Ling-yu, a clinical associate professor at HKU medical school’s department of surgery, said the technology aims to overcome the limitations of conventional microsurgery.
“The biggest difficulty of microsurgery is hand tremors, which can worsen if the surgeon operates under stress or fatigue,” she said at a press briefing.
“Surgeons also often need to maintain fixed, strained positions for long periods to align with the microscope and patient.”
