US foundation awards fellowships to 7 Indian surgeons

In a bid to grow a pool of robotic surgeons in India, US-based non-profit Vattikuti Foundation has awarded a year-long fellowships to seven Indian surgeons to specialise in robotic surgery in the areas of urology, gynecology and head and neck surgery, the company said on Tuesday.

During the fellowships, the surgeons would be trained in simulation-based dry laboratory for bedside patient assistance, patient positioning and port placement skills as well as in porcine laboratories (pig labs) for practical training.

"At the end of this rigorous training process, we expect these bright surgeons with impeccable qualifications to become accomplished robotic surgeons capable of handling procedures independently," said Mahendra Bhandari, CEO at Vattikuti Foundation in Detroit, US.

The seven selected Vattikuti fellows will begin their training in robotic surgery by working with their mentors at New Delhi's Medanta Vattikuti Institute, Escorts Fortis Institute, and Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, Apollo Hospitals - Chennai, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences - Kochi, and Manipal Hospital - Bengaluru, starting this month.

The Fellowships are part of commitment by Vattikuti Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on promoting Robotic Surgery in the India, Europe and the US, to grow the number of trained robotic surgeons in India to 500 by 2020 through award of 100 fellowships in five years.

Robotic surgery scores over conventional surgery, as it minimises blood loss, drastically reduces the post-operative recovery time, and brings precision in executing the procedure, thereby potentially saving healthy tissue from damage.

With four arms, it can reach organs and areas where human fingers cannot. The three-dimensional view, that can be magnified multifold, helps the surgeons achieve precision that prevents collateral damage to healthy tissue.

--IANS

rt/pgh/vt