SS Innovations announced surgeons completed the world’s first robotic cardiac telesurgeries using its Mantra surgical robot. The company reported two world-first robotic cardiac telesurgeries in just two days. Its Mantra 3 system remotely connected the SS Innovations headquarters in Gurugram, India, with Manipal Hospital in Jaipur, India. The distance between the robot and the hospital spanned nearly 180 miles (286 kilometers).
SS Innovations says the milestone “opens the door” to advanced, remote surgical technology becoming a key component of healthcare.
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Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, the company’s founder, chair and CEO, led the surgical team in the first telesurgery procedure. The team performed a remotely conducted, robotic-assisted internal mammary artery harvesting. This procedure took just 58 minutes.
The second surgery — a robotic beating heart totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB), was performed via telesurgery. It took place under the same collaboration between Srivastava and Dr. Lalit Malik, chief of cardiac surgery at Manipal Hospital. Both surgeries highlighted teamwork across long distances, SS Innovations says.
Srivastava says that, for a country like India with a rural population and healthcare disparities, the innovation could prove “transformative.”
“By enabling telesurgery, we can bridge gaps in access to medical expertise and deliver the highest standard of care, regardless of geographical barriers,” said Srivastava. “Our goal has always been to make advanced surgical care affordable and accessible, and telesurgery now allows us to extend the reach of skilled surgeons to every corner of our nation, fundamentally changing the way healthcare is delivered.”
