India’s First Indigenous Robotic Telesurgery Revolutionizes Global Healthcare

On Friday, doctors announced that India’s first indigenous surgical robotic technology has made a major impact in global healthcare by completing the world’s first two robotic cardiac telesurgeries in just two days.

Three robotic systems performed the surgery, linking SS Innovations’ headquarters in Gurugram with a private hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan, across a distance of 286 kilometers.

The initial procedure, a Telerobotic-assisted Internal Mammary Artery Harvesting, was led by Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, Founder and CEO of SS Innovations International, Inc. The team completed the surgery remotely in just 58 minutes.

The procedure showed remarkable accuracy, with a low latency of just 35-40 milliseconds.

Following this, another world-first was performed – a Robotic Beating Heart Coronary Artery Bypass (TECAB) via telesurgery, also with a low latency of 40 milliseconds. TECAB is one of the most complex cardiac surgeries.

Telesurgery Revolutionizes Healthcare Access, Says Dr. Sudhir Srivastava

Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, SS Innovations Founder, Chairman, and CEO stated, “We are extremely thrilled to have advanced the capabilities of surgery to benefit humanity, especially in areas that need it the most. By enabling telesurgery, we can bridge gaps in access to medical expertise and deliver the highest standard of care, regardless of geographical barriers.”

Discussing the achievement further, he emphasized how telesurgery makes it easier for patients to receive care, offering them more accessible and efficient treatment options.

“For a country like India, with its vast rural population and significant healthcare disparities, this innovation is transformative. Telesurgery brings world-class surgical expertise directly to underserved communities, eliminating the need for patients to travel long distances to urban centres for specialized care. It ensures timely interventions while reducing logistical and financial burdens on families. With the recent CDSCO approval for telesurgery using SSI Mantra, we have not just advanced technology; we have fulfilled our mission to democratize access to robotic surgery,” Dr. Sudhir Srivastava added.

Robotic Telesurgery Bridges Gaps In Patient Care: Dr Lalit Malik

Dr Lalit Malik, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Manipal Hospital, Jaipur asserted, “This groundbreaking inter-state robotic cardiac telesurgery marks a significant leap in enhancing patient care through innovation. The remote robotic-assisted CABG on an elderly patient from Jaipur exemplifies how technology is bridging geographical gaps to provide accurate and timely medical interventions. This achievement underscores our dedication to offering world-class healthcare and ensuring patients have access to the most advanced treatment options available.”

Dr. Fredric Moll Congratulates The Team For Robotic Telesurgery

Dr. Fredric Moll, regarded as the Father of Surgical Robotics and Founder of Intuitive Surgical, congratulated the team.

He said, “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dr Srivastava and the entire SSI team on the successful achievement of performing the world’s first robotic cardiac telesurgeries. It is delightful to see just how far we have come since the inception of surgical robotics more than 20 years ago.”

Reflecting on the advancements in telesurgery and robotic surgery, he added, “As many may recall, the original robotic system designed to achieve two things, remote surgery and the ability to perform coronary bypass surgery in a complete closed chest approach. My approach was this, if you could perform beating heart bypass surgery with the robot, then all other procedures would be possible. Due to the bandwidth limitations at the time, the telesurgery goal put on hold while we further broadened the applications of the robotic system across all specialities.”

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