News and notices Pānui
Groundbreaking urology procedure performed at Tauranga Hospital
18 February 2025
Tauranga Hospital has reached a significant milestone in surgical innovation. Urologists Prof. Peter Gilling and Wikus Vermeulen have successfully performed New Zealand’s first robotic-assisted HoLEP surgeries on people with enlarged prostates.
This groundbreaking procedure, conducted via a tablet interface and using an advanced platform, developed by surgical robotics pioneer Andromeda Surgical, uses a light beam called a holmium laser to remove the interior tissue of the prostate and relieve bladder obstruction.
The surgeries mark the launch of Andromeda's ASTRA clinical trial in New Zealand which is the first-in-man study of this platform conducted across four sites internationally.
HoLEP, originally developed in the 1990s by Prof. Peter Gilling and Mark Fraundorfer in Tauranga, has become the gold-standard treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (or enlarged prostate) worldwide and has been widely adopted in recent years.
“Since developing the HoLEP procedure in the 1990s to now combining the manual surgery with advanced robotics, it’s amazing to see how the procedure has evolved in time,” says Prof. Peter Gilling.
“Being involved in this cutting-edge research is an important early step in helping to develop this type of robotic technology. Thank you to those patients who are involved with the trial – your involvement is helping us to get a glimpse into what these surgeries could look like in the future,” he says.
Andromeda Surgical, based in California, is focused on advancing surgical robotics, starting with endourology procedures. Its endoscopic robotic platform, once fully developed, will integrate seamlessly with existing endourology tools to offer surgeons an ergonomically optimised system for transurethral (through the urethra) procedures.
The Venturo Urology Unit at Tauranga Hospital, including Professor Gilling, Mr Fraundorfer, Mr Vermeulen, Mr Ordones and their team regularly conducts commercial and pioneering research including first-in-man studies at Tauranga Hospital. These endeavours give staff and colleagues invaluable exposure to cutting-edge research and innovation.