by NR Indran / INT
Asias first 3rd generation robot with simulator launched at AHI
Asian Heart Institute (AHI)was set up with a dream to provide the highest 
- ·Lowest surgical mortality ratesin the world, 0.26% in bypass surgery & an overall mortality of 0.8%
- ·Lowest documented infectionrate in India,at par with the world’s best.
With a vision ofbecoming a globally preferred centre of excellence, now comes the Asian Hospital,which will have under its aegis:
- Asian Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery
The expert teamalways strives to lead the way in healthcare with new technologies and the mostrecent innovations in patient care. Thelatest star to be added to the galaxy is collaboration with the VattikutiFoundation (the Founder & giant in the robot surgery). Asian Hospitals in partnership with theVattikuti Foundation has created the AsianVattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery at the Asian Hospitals, Mumbai. Thisnew institute will offer the most advanced robotic surgery for multidisciplinessuch as cardio thoracic, urology, gynecology, ENT and oncology. Set up with the most advanced robotic surgerysystems from Intuitive Surgicals, the da Vinci Si series of computer assistedrobotic surgery system with the process know how from the Vattikuti Foundationwill be functioning as an independent institute with the Asian Hospitals,Mumbai.
Mr. Raj &Padma Vattikuti created theVattikuti Foundation as part of their philanthropic activities. Among manysocially oriented projects, the Vattikutis established the Vattikuti UrologyInstitute (VUI) at Henry Ford Hospitalto support prostrate cancer treatment programs. The Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI) has done pioneering work in thearea of robotic surgery for urology, performing more than 60,000 roboticsurgeries and helped in the growth of the robotic surgery in multipledisciplines.
Robotic Urologicsurgeons across the world today use Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy (VIP) andother techniques pioneered & perfected at the Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI).Now the Vattikuti Foundation, has established a network of severalmultidisciplinary institutes of excellence in robotic and other minimallyinvasive surgeries across the globe with the mission to make the benefits ofrobotic available to the common person. The foundation has handpicked thepartner Institutions such as Asian Hospitals to implement unique model tocreate independent institutes within the institute. These institutions havewell developed specialties in the area of urology, cardiac surgery, gynecology,ENT, surgical oncology & hepato-biliary surgery. The foundation is determined to make stateof the art robotic surgery available and affordable to the underprivileged in India.
The latest inrobotic surgery-the da Vinci Si RoboticSurgical System with simulator capabilities (da Vinci SI), is commissionedat the Institute. The establishmentof Asian Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery is a step forward in thedirection to make available the cutting edge technology to the people ofIndia,currently available in very few centres in the world.
The robot adds to the capability of the surgeon toaccomplish surgical task. Still it is the man behind the machine i.e. thesurgeon who does the surgery and robot by itself does not do any thing on itsown.
The computerbased robot, translating the hand movements in to surgical instrument movementshas created a quantum jump in the surgical capabilities. The robotic surgery system translates the movementsof the surgeon’s hands in to three dimensional movement of the surgicalinstruments. This further enables the surgeon to perform various surgicaloperations such as incisions, cauterisation, suturing etc with greaterprecision, take pause in between steps, eliminate jerky movements, and achievemillimeter level precision in the surgery.
The da Vinci SiSurgical Robotic System with Simulator is the latest generation robotic systemto be used to perform surgeries. This generation system provides high definitionThree Dimentional views of the internal organs – a major improvement over theconventional laporoscopic monocular vision. The special endowrist instrumentsand camera provides the surgeons with the view of the internal organs neverseen by human eyes ever before.
With thecommissioning of the robot, Asian Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery is thepioneering institute in the country & amongst the first few to bring thelatest generation robot to this part of the world & is aiming to become
Robot assisted surgery, commonly known asrobotic surgery was developed to overcome the limitations of MIS. The roboticsystem enables surgeons to perform delicate & complex operations on heart,prostrate, gall bladder,ovary,uterus,thyroid, etc. For example, thyroid surgery could be donethrough axillary route, through the under arms with no scar on the neck.
The surgeries are done through few tinyincisions with increased vision, precision, dexterity & control. Severalkey components of the system include:
SurgeonConsole: The console is the place where a surgeonsits while operating. It is located in the same operating room which means thatthe surgeon is physically present all throughout the surgery. Instead of directly moving the instruments,the surgeon uses the computer console to move the instruments which are attachedto multiple robot arms. The computer translates the surgeon’s movements, whichare then carried out on the patient by the robot. All through, the surgeon isable to get a high resolution view of the inside of the patients body.
Patient Side Cart: This iswhere the patient is made to lie down for the surgery.It includes 4 roboticarms that carry out the surgeons commands. The robotic arms move depending onthe movement specified by the surgeon at the console, which means that theoperation is under direct control of the surgeon. The robotic arms are fittedwith surgical instruments which enter into the body through keyhole incisionsof 1-2 cms. The robotic system senses the surgeons hand movements &translates them into micro movements of the instruments to perform surgery.Repeated safety checks prevent any independent movement of the instrument orthe robotic arm.
Endo Wrist Instruments: Theseinstruments which are attached to the robotic arm are designed to give a rangeof movements even greater than the human wrist. An integrated tremor filterdetects & filters out any tremors in the surgeon’s hand movements, so thatthey are not duplicated robotically.
Vision System: The visionsystem is equipped with a high-definition, 3D endoscope (flexible tube with acamera and light at the tip) that provides live images of the patient’s area tobe operated during surgery. The surgeon gets a magnified view of the roboticmovements which is 20-40 times more magnified than naked eye, thus helping thesurgeon to do more accurate operations.
You can contact the Author at nr_indran@rediffmail.com