Doctors are considered next to god in India and people strongly believe in that. Have you ever come across a doctor performing a surgery who is 32 km away from the operation theatre? How is that even possible for a doctor who deftly pulled off operation when he is not in the first place?
However, with today’s technology, anything is possible, India became the world’s first country to perform a telerobotic coronary intervention, courtesy Ahmedabad-based cardiologist Dr Tejas Patel. Let’s take a moment to cheer this doctor for showing his experience.
He performed it by operating robotically handled instruments from the Akshardham temple complex in Gandhinagar, when the patient was in the operation theatre of Apex Heart Institute in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Patel has a wide range of experience in this field and has performed more than 300 robotic surgeries so far. He confidently decided to proceed with the full-fledged live operation for the first time ever.
In case you don’t know about telerobotic coronary intervention:
It is a robotic method of performing surgery. It can be done with help of the internet and a robotic tower and a surgeon is able to operate on patients from a distance. For a fact, Da Vinci system is the leading surgical robotics technology provider.
The patient was identified as a middle-aged woman with a blocked artery. In a surgery that lasted around 15 minutes, Dr Tejas Patel performed it successfully with the help of Jio Band 100 MBPS internet connection.
While doing telerobotic operations, if any failure or delay in the internet speed is observed, the surgeons who are present over there would be able to take over the operation manually within a time of 30 seconds.
A team of doctors and paramedics were there in the hospital to keep a tab on the operation. This advanced mode of operation means that the best doctors can reach patients anywhere in the world with the help of internet connection, cath lab and robotic arm.
The robotic system was carefully placed in the operation theatre and Dr Patel was linked to it through high-speed wireless internet. By moving the buttons from the temple, the patient’s arteries were initially cleaned up and a stent was inserted. The operation was displayed on a screen at the Akshardham temple, where Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani was also there.
“The woman had a heart attack recently and one artery was already operated upon. Today we placed a stent in the second artery that was clogged. This history-making feat is my small tribute to the Pramukh Swami Maharaj,” said Patel after the operation.
“This procedure could have been done with a 20mbps connectivity speed as well. I believe this will not just transform coronary (heart-related) intervention, but the entire vascular space. It has the capability of changing the lives of millions of people living in rural areas,” the doctor said.
“Right now, as the technology is in a nascent stage, it is costlier than conventional surgery by around Rs 45,000-50,000, but with the increase in its usage, it will come down. This is the first of the coming transformations of utilizing mobile technology in modern surgery,” added Patel.
With inputs from IANS
