Surgical Roving Robot to tour city

Surgeons in Vijayawada and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh can get to see how the da Vinci robot works when it arrives as part of its country wide tour of India.

Detroit-based Vattikuti Foundation which has been evangelising robotic surgery in India along with Vattikuti Technologies which distributes the robot and Intuitive Surgical are together taking the surgical robot around the country for surgeons, hospital managements and local doctors to get a touch and feel of the technology.

The will be showcased in Vijayawada at Prashanth Hospital from August 28-30 and in Tirupati in early September. During the tour, surgeons will highlight the benefits of robotic surgery in interactive sessions, and also address any doubts and clarifications.

Dr T Subramanyeshwar Rao T, Medical Director & Chief Surgical Oncologist, Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad explained, “In the past few decades, surgery has been enriched by the expansion of use of Robotic assistance to overcome the difficulties and limitations of open and minimal access procedures.

The distinct advantages of robotic assistance are high resolution 3D visuals with surgeon controlled rapid zoom and pan, wristed instruments with seven degrees of freedom of movement, filtration of tremors of surgeon’s hands and motion scaling to suit the speed and experience of all surgeons.”

Dr Mallikarjuna, Managing Director & Senior Urologist, Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology, Hyderabad, added, “Laparoscopic surgery is extremely difficult field to practice. To perfect it you need lot of training, mentorship and clinical practice.

In spite of that to excel it needs lot of time and perseverance. Robot makes that learning curve easy, so that the expertise can come earlier. It literally means you can be better within a shorter time.”

Dr Rooma Sinha, UroGynecologist, Apollo Health City, Hyderabad, commented, “It is without doubt that women benefit from keyhole surgery. There is less pain, less blood loss, fewer stitches allowing women and mothers to recover quickly and putting them back on their feet.”

Currently, Andhra Pradesh has six surgical robots all concentrated in Hyderabad hospitals--Apollo Hospital, Asian Institute of Nephrology & Urology, Basavatarakam Indo American Hospital, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (Two Robots) and Yashoda Hospital.

The aim is to expand the base. To make it affordable, Vattikuti Technologies and surgical robot maker Intuitive Surgical Inc., USA will offer hospitals the da Vinci robot along with instruments required for the next three years at a special price point.