Chennai to Get India’s First Robotic Training Centre for Doctors

Promising a new dimension to the future of robotic surgery in the country, India will soon be getting its first training centre for the technique. Vattikuti Foundation will open the first such training centre in Chennai by the end of this year for doctors from all over India.

The foundation has collaborated with hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other cities to provide robot-assisted surgeries. Among the government hospitals, All India Insitute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) conducted the first such surgery in 2008.

While the surgery is conducted by a four-armed robot, the movements of the robot are controlled by a trained doctor. An arm of the robot controls the camera and the other three hands manipulate the surgical instruments. The entire surgical process is observed via a high-definition 3D vision system known as the Da Vinci surgical robotic system.

Robotic surgery is available for a range of conditions such as thoracic (throat), cardio-vascular (heart), urology, gynecological surgery, and cancer surgeries among others.