Robotic-Assisted Surgery Now to Be Performed in South India

Robotics.tmcnet.com

June 21, 2011

Robot-assisted surgery has been used in the U.S. for many years. But now patients in South India will also benefit from this kind of surgery, with the first robotic healthcare facility opening June 26, according to indiainfoline.com.

Led by KIMS (Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Ltd.), a 500 bed, multi-specialty hospital, robot-assisted surgery will now be used in such specialties as urology (prostate, kidney, and urinary bladder) and gynecology surgeries (such as hysterectomy), with other specialties to be added, including ear, nose and throat, and gastro-intestinal surgeries and liver resections, according to Dr. Bhaskar Rao, cardiothoracic surgeon and managing director and chief executive officer of KIMS, addressing a press conference today.

Some of the first surgeries will be for cardiac patients, according to Dr. Rao in the press release.

Robotic surgery is a technique in which a surgeon performs surgery using a computer that remotely controls very small instruments attached to a robot, according to nih.gov.

This procedure is done under general anesthesia and the surgeon sits at a computer station nearby and directs the movements of a robot. Small instruments are attached to the robot's arms. The surgeon first inserts these instruments into the patient’s body through small surgical cuts. Under the surgeon’s direction, the robot matches the doctor’s hand movements to perform the procedure using the tiny instruments.
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