Multi-speciality hospital Narayana Health today launched an institute for robotic surgery which will primarily conduct prostate, kidney, gynecological, colorectal and select head and neck cancer surgeries.
The Institute of Robotic Surgery has been supported by Infosys Foundation here.
The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System will be used primarily for prostate, kidney, gynecological, colorectal and select head and neck cancer surgeries, Narayana Health said in a statement.
Unveiling the plaque, signifying the launch, Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy said the need to adopt and continually update treatment protocols that reduce errors is crucial for a country like India, which sees high patient volumes and a wide spectrum of complex diseases.
Robotic surgery, with its high degree of precision and faster recovery time, has the potential to address this efficiently, she said.
"Our partnership with Narayana Health is aimed at encouraging rapid adoption of robotics in healthcare in India. Through this endowment, we also intend to provide impetus for further research in this area, and enable the masses to reap the benefits of affordable and high-quality treatment," she added.
Narayana Health Chairman Devi Shetty who also spoke, said "World is on the threshold of a major transition from laparoscopic surgery to robotic surgery."
Robotic surgery has proved that inaccessible areas of the human body like deep in the pelvis where a prostate surgery needs to be done for a patient with cancer of the prostate can easily be accessed, he said.
He further said, "It is a matter of time before most procedures on the human body will be done better with the robotics."
Shetty said Infosys Foundation donated 'da Vinci Surgical Robot' to develop Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery to train robotic surgeons for the future.
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"We are happy to announce the Rs 15 crore Institute of Robotic Surgery supported by Infosys Foundation.The institute will offer training for surgeons," Dr Shetty said.
Asked whether the Infosys Foundation will increase investment into research, Sudha Murthy said "we have given Rs 8 crore for the purpose of setting up the institute to carry out activities such as research and training surgeons for conducting robotic operations."
She further said through this funding, the Foundation intends to provide impetus for further research in this area, and enable the masses to reap the benefits of affordable and high-quality treatment.
Replying to a query, Shetty said the prices of robotic surgery is bound to come down. "In next four years time there will be a marginal difference between laparoscopic and robotic surgery. It is bound to happen."
Shetty said the institute would act as a changing agent and encourage hospitals to acquire more and more robotic equipment which would create a market and consequently bring down the prices. "Right now there is no big market for robotic surgical equipment," he said.
Asked if the institute is keen on acquiring robotic machines manufactured by other companies, he said: "Definitely, we are open to acquire new equipments to conduct robotic operations. There are Medtronic MDT and a startup backed by Johnson and Johnson JNJ and Google, and we would like to add these equipment in our portfolio, for we are constantly looking at new modalities of treatment," he said.
