Robotic SurgeryNCT06803719
Public Perceptions Toward Robotic Surgery, Telesurgery and Telemedicine
A study testing Robot-Centered Video in people with Robotic Surgery and Telemedicine, run by Shanghai 6th People's Hospital at 1 site in China.
Trial summary
This study aims to systematically assess the public's and clinicians' levels of awareness, attitudes, risk perception, acceptance, and potential concerns regarding robotic surgery and telesurgery. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Robotic Surgery, Telemedicine
- What is being tested?
- Robot-Centered Video
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 1,000 participants
- Where
- 1 siteChina
- Study dates
- 12 Oct 2026to 31 Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Chinese citizens aged 18 years or older
- Able to understand and complete the questionnaire
- Voluntarily participating in this study and providing informed consent
Who cannot join
- Aged below 18 years
- Unable to understand the questionnaire or unable to complete the questionnaire independently
- Those who submit the questionnaire repeatedly
- Healthcare professionals or students with formal training or direct clinical involvement in robotic surgery.
- History of a robotic surgical procedure
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
China1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital
Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, 200233
Ling Zhan, Doctor, 08615821120972, rebecca0428zhan@163.com
About this study
Official title: Public Awareness, Trust, and Risk Perception Toward Robotic Surgery, Telesurgery and Telemedicine
This study aims to systematically assess the public's and clinicians' levels of awareness, attitudes, risk perception, acceptance, and potential concerns regarding robotic surgery and telesurgery. It also analyzes the key factors influencing their attitudes and explores the needs of physicians regarding training systems for robotic and telesurgery, as well as the factors affecting their preparedness. To evaluate how different video representations of the surgeon-robot relationship influence patients' immediate understanding of who controls the surgical instruments during robot-assisted surgery.
Read the detailed description
Public level:
- Level of awareness and understanding of robotic and remote surgery (e.g., understanding of operating procedures, the doctor's role, and potential risks).
- Perceptions and concerns regarding the safety, reliability, cybersecurity risks, and equipment malfunctions of the technology.
- Trust and acceptance of the technology, and factors that may influence attitudes (e.g., education level, past medical experiences, access to medical resources).
- Overall expectations and concerns regarding hospitals performing such surgeries.
Healthcare practitioners level:
- Knowledge level, attitudes, and acceptance of robotic and remote surgery.
- Views on the learning curve, surgical safety, equipment accessibility, collaborative processes, and potential obstacles.
- Understanding and actual needs regarding training systems for robotic and remote surgery, including simulator training, mentorship programs, skill evaluation methods, and the transfer of laparoscopic skills to robotic skills.
- Conditions
- Robotic Surgery, Telemedicine
- Being tested
- Explicit Surgeon-Control Video, Implied Surgeon-Control Video, Robot-Centered Video
- Keywords
- Public perception, Telemedicine adoption, Surgical training, Surgical decision-making
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Explicit Surgeon-Control VideoBehavioural
A standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds directly describes the surgeon's control of the robotic instruments. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit.
Implied Surgeon-Control VideoBehavioural
A standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds shows the surgeon operating at a console and robotic instruments performing surgical actions, without explicitly explaining that the surgeon controls the instruments. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit.
Robot-Centered VideoBehavioural
A standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds focuses on robotic arms and instruments performing surgical actions. It does not state that the robot independently makes decisions or performs surgery autonomously. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Explicit Surgeon Control | Experimental | Participants view a brief video that explicitly states that the surgeon controls the robotic instruments during robot-assisted surgery. Receives: Behavioral: Explicit Surgeon-Control Video |
| Implied Surgeon Control | Experimental | Participants view a brief video that conveys the surgeon's involvement through visual or contextual cues without directly stating the surgeon-robot control relationship. Receives: Behavioral: Implied Surgeon-Control Video |
| Robot-Centered Framing | Experimental | Participants view a brief video that foregrounds robotic instruments performing surgical actions without explicitly explaining the surgeon's control or claiming autonomous robotic operation. Receives: Behavioral: Robot-Centered Video |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Public acceptance of robotic surgery
The level of acceptance toward robotic surgery among the general public, measured using a 5-point Likert scale assessing willingness to receive robotic-assisted procedures under hypothetical clinical scenarios. Higher scores indicate greater acceptance.
Measured: Baseline
Public acceptance of telesurgery and telemedicine
The degree of acceptance of telesurgery among the general public, assessed via a validated questionnaire evaluating willingness to undergo remote surgery, perceived safety, and perceived reliability of network-based surgical systems.
Measured: Baseline
Public perceived risk of robotic and telesurgery
Perceived risk associated with robotic surgery and telesurgery, including concerns about device malfunction, network failure, surgical autonomy, and responsibility attribution, assessed using a multi-item Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher perceived risk.
Measured: Baseline
Physicians' training needs score (assessed by self-designed questionnaire)
This measure assesses physicians' perceived training needs regarding required skills (e.g., simulation, console operation) and preferred modalities (e.g., online courses, wet labs). Participants rate items on a 5-point Likert scale (1=Not needed, 5=Highly needed).
Measured: Baseline
Percentage of Participants Correctly Identifying Surgeon Control After Video Exposure
The response stating that the surgeon directly controls the surgical instruments through a console will be scored as correct. All other responses will be scored as noncorrect for this outcome. The outcome is the percentage of participants providing the correct response in each randomized group.
Measured: Baseline, immediately before video exposure, and immediately after video exposure during the same outpatient study visit.
Secondary outcomes (1)
Change From Baseline in Confidence in the Accuracy of the Selected Answer
Participants will rate their confidence that their selected answer to the control-relationship question is correct on an 11-point numerical rating scale, ranging from 0 (not at all confident) to 10 (completely confident). Change will be calculated as the post-video score minus the baseline score, with possible values ranging from -10 to +10. Positive values indicate increased confidence, which does not necessarily indicate more accurate understanding.
Measured: Baseline, immediately before video exposure, and immediately after video exposure during the same outpatient study visit.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted31 Jan 2025
- Study start12 Oct 2026
- Primary completion31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Robotic SurgeryStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 1,000 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Shanghai 6th People's Hospital
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Ling Zhan, Shanghai 6th People's Hospital
- Investigators
- Ling Zhan, Dr, Principal investigator, Shanghai 6th People's Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06803719
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2025-KY-507(K)
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 27 Jan 2025
- Last updated
- 21 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided: Data are available on request due to privacy or other restrictions. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from Ling Zhan. The data are not publicly available due to them containing information that could compromise research participant privacy.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 21 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Public Awareness, Trust, and Risk Perception Toward Robotic Surgery, Telesurgery and Telemedicine
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06803719
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2025-KY-507(K)
- Conditions
- Robotic Surgery, Telemedicine
- Keywords
- Public perception, Telemedicine adoption, Surgical training, Surgical decision-making
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 1,000 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Shanghai 6th People's HospitalUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 12 Oct 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 31 Jan 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study aims to systematically assess the public's and clinicians' levels of awareness, attitudes, risk perception, acceptance, and potential concerns regarding robotic surgery and telesurgery. It also analyzes the key factors influencing their attitudes and explores the needs of physicians regarding training systems for robotic and telesurgery, as well as the factors affecting their preparedness. To evaluate how different video representations of the surgeon-robot relationship influence patients' immediate understanding of who controls the surgical instruments during robot-assisted surgery.
Detailed description
Public level:
- Level of awareness and understanding of robotic and remote surgery (e.g., understanding of operating procedures, the doctor's role, and potential risks).
- Perceptions and concerns regarding the safety, reliability, cybersecurity risks, and equipment malfunctions of the technology.
- Trust and acceptance of the technology, and factors that may influence attitudes (e.g., education level, past medical experiences, access to medical resources).
- Overall expectations and concerns regarding hospitals performing such surgeries.
Healthcare practitioners level:
- Knowledge level, attitudes, and acceptance of robotic and remote surgery.
- Views on the learning curve, surgical safety, equipment accessibility, collaborative processes, and potential obstacles.
- Understanding and actual needs regarding training systems for robotic and remote surgery, including simulator training, mentorship programs, skill evaluation methods, and the transfer of laparoscopic skills to robotic skills.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 3
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Explicit Surgeon Control | Experimental | Behavioral: Explicit Surgeon-Control VideoParticipants view a brief video that explicitly states that the surgeon controls the robotic instruments during robot-assisted surgery. |
| Implied Surgeon Control | Experimental | Behavioral: Implied Surgeon-Control VideoParticipants view a brief video that conveys the surgeon's involvement through visual or contextual cues without directly stating the surgeon-robot control relationship. |
| Robot-Centered Framing | Experimental | Behavioral: Robot-Centered VideoParticipants view a brief video that foregrounds robotic instruments performing surgical actions without explicitly explaining the surgeon's control or claiming autonomous robotic operation. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Chinese citizens aged 18 years or older
- Able to understand and complete the questionnaire
- Voluntarily participating in this study and providing informed consent
Key exclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Aged below 18 years
- Unable to understand the questionnaire or unable to complete the questionnaire independently
- Those who submit the questionnaire repeatedly
- Healthcare professionals or students with formal training or direct clinical involvement in robotic surgery.
- History of a robotic surgical procedure
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Explicit Surgeon-Control VideoA standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds directly describes the surgeon's control of the robotic instruments. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit. | Behavioural | Explicit Surgeon Control |
| Implied Surgeon-Control VideoA standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds shows the surgeon operating at a console and robotic instruments performing surgical actions, without explicitly explaining that the surgeon controls the instruments. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit. | Behavioural | Implied Surgeon Control |
| Robot-Centered VideoA standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds focuses on robotic arms and instruments performing surgical actions. It does not state that the robot independently makes decisions or performs surgery autonomously. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit. | Behavioural | Robot-Centered Framing |
Primary outcome
Public acceptance of robotic surgery
Time frame: Baseline
The level of acceptance toward robotic surgery among the general public, measured using a 5-point Likert scale assessing willingness to receive robotic-assisted procedures under hypothetical clinical scenarios. Higher scores indicate greater acceptance.
Public acceptance of telesurgery and telemedicine
Time frame: Baseline
The degree of acceptance of telesurgery among the general public, assessed via a validated questionnaire evaluating willingness to undergo remote surgery, perceived safety, and perceived reliability of network-based surgical systems.
Public perceived risk of robotic and telesurgery
Time frame: Baseline
Perceived risk associated with robotic surgery and telesurgery, including concerns about device malfunction, network failure, surgical autonomy, and responsibility attribution, assessed using a multi-item Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher perceived risk.
Physicians' training needs score (assessed by self-designed questionnaire)
Time frame: Baseline
This measure assesses physicians' perceived training needs regarding required skills (e.g., simulation, console operation) and preferred modalities (e.g., online courses, wet labs). Participants rate items on a 5-point Likert scale (1=Not needed, 5=Highly needed).
Percentage of Participants Correctly Identifying Surgeon Control After Video Exposure
Time frame: Baseline, immediately before video exposure, and immediately after video exposure during the same outpatient study visit.
The response stating that the surgeon directly controls the surgical instruments through a console will be scored as correct. All other responses will be scored as noncorrect for this outcome. The outcome is the percentage of participants providing the correct response in each randomized group.
1 secondary outcome
Change From Baseline in Confidence in the Accuracy of the Selected Answer
Time frame: Baseline, immediately before video exposure, and immediately after video exposure during the same outpatient study visit.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 21 Oct 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Undecided. Data are available on request due to privacy or other restrictions. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from Ling Zhan. The data are not publicly available due to them containing information that could compromise research participant privacy.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Ling Zhan, Dr principal investigator
Shanghai 6th People's Hospital
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Robot-Centered Video in people with Robotic Surgery and Telemedicine, run by Shanghai 6th People's Hospital at 1 site in China.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in China. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Ling Zhan, Dr (08615821120972, 15821120972@163.com), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Public acceptance of robotic surgery (time frame: Baseline). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Oct 2026.