Agilis Robotics Completes First-In-China Live Animal Endoscopic Surgery Trial with Its Fully Flexible Robotic System

Conduct in vivo animal testing at The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital

Chokeli Medical Robotics, a startup incubated by the University of Hong Kong (hereinafter referred to as “Chokeli”), successfully conducted mainland China’s first live-animal (porcine) trial at The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital on March 29. During this trial, Chokeli effectively demonstrated the advantages of its product: the miniaturized, fully flexible, five-degree-of-freedom endoscopic surgical robotic system developed by Chokeli can optimize the learning curve for clinicians in clinical practice, while being compatible with existing commercial endoscopy equipment in hospitals. This seamless integration with current hospital instruments helps reduce usage costs.

In this live animal trial, Dr. Fan Jingwen, Assistant Dean of Shenzhen Hospital of The University of Hong Kong and Director of the Endoscopy Center, together with his assistants, successfully used the Qiaojie Li fully flexible endoscopic surgical robot to resect artificial tumors in both the upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts. The Qiaojie Li surgical robot features an ingenious design with slender, fully flexible robotic arms that enable dexterous maneuvering in confined spaces, significantly enhancing the precision of surgical procedures.

Dr. Fan Jingwen stated, “Compared with traditional endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), the testing and operation of the Qiaojie Li medical robotic system significantly reduced surgical time. This system simplifies ESD procedures, lowers their technical difficulty, and makes the required skills easier for physicians to master. For hospitals, it enables the rapid training of more doctors proficient in ESD. If further clinical data can substantiate these benefits, the product holds substantial value for clinical adoption.”

With clinical practicality in mind, Qiaojieli aims to reduce surgical time by more than 50% and cut the onboarding training time for surgeons without prior robotic surgery experience by over 70% compared with traditional surgical robots (with even shorter training times for those experienced in robotic surgery). On the same day, the research team also used the robotic arm to perform ex vivo tissue resection by accessing the porcine trachea through the bronchoscope channel. This experiment will further validate the feasibility of the system in natural orifice surgeries, such as those involving the pharynx and larynx.

Another advantage of the Qiaojie Li endoscopic surgical robot system is its high cost-effectiveness. The system comprises disposable robotic arms and a console: its fully flexible arms can operate directly through commercial endoscope channels as small as 2.8 mm, ensuring compatibility with existing commercial endoscopic equipment in hospitals. Additionally, the console’s compact size eliminates the need for significant upfront costs associated with procuring extensive instrumentation or renovating operating rooms. This lowers the barrier to adopting surgical robots for hospitals, providing patients with a more affordable solution that delivers superior therapeutic outcomes.

Qiaojie Li’s successful completion of its first live-animal trials in mainland China marks a critical step toward obtaining registration with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). This milestone suggests that Qiaojie Li’s endoscopic surgical robot is poised for broader clinical application in the future. The success of these trials also demonstrates the real-world clinical potential of Qiaojie Li’s medical robots, bolstering confidence in their future prospects and development. As technology continues to advance and clinical data accumulate, Qiaojie Li’s medical robots are expected to bring revolutionary changes to the surgical field, improving procedural efficiency, reducing surgical risks, and enabling more patients with early-stage cancer to receive high-quality treatment solutions at an earlier stage.

Qiaojie Li to Appear at the 7th Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference from May 5–7Organized by VB100, VCBeat, and Eggshell Research Institute, the event will feature Qiaojie Li’s founding team engaging with medical device industry professionals at their booth. We look forward to meeting you in Shanghai!