How Vattikuti Aims To Transform Healthcare with Robotic Surgery

Robotic surgery is set to transform the medical sector significantly in India. But training doctors to do robotic surgery has been a big challenge so far. But this is something that is going to be addressed very soon. One company which is keen to solve this issue is Vattikuti Technologies. Vattikuti Technologies, which makes available da Vinci Surgical Robots, recently displayed how it can train doctors to do robotic surgeries. The company is willing to expand its reach in India and hence eager to work with corporate healthcare chains, government cancer hospitals, and trusts, to acquire the most appropriate surgical robots.

Making robotic surgery possible

Vattikuti Technologies, as its spokespeople claimed, will enhance access to robotic surgery, covering specialized cancer centers, large government hospitals and small hospitals in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. In the North, the company does closely work with Vatikuti Foundation that will be targeting Delhi NCR, Jabaplur, Bhopal,Lucknow, Ludhiana, Varanasi and Srinagar.

In a press statement, the company spokesperson Raj Vattikuti, who has been working on robotic surgery in India since 2010, said, “We will grow the pool of accomplished Robotic surgeons to 500 besides motivating young surgeons to adopt robotic surgery. As its contribution, Vattikuti Foundation, will offer 100 paid fellowships to super specialist surgeons, over the next 5 years, to become Robotic surgeons.”

How robotic surgery works

New age dexterous robots are the latest entrants in medical technology. With its precise movements, these robots are controlled by experienced surgeons well trained to utilize their ability of three dimensional vision to provide succor to patients suffering from prostrate, gynecological, lung, head and neck and collateral cancer.

Robotic surgeries have many benefits like healthier post-operative life, quick healing of wounds, minimal loss of blood and shorter hospital stays. A surgical robot has four arms that can reach organs and areas where human fingers can’t. One of the arm carries a miniature camera whose 3D output is displayed on a television screen in the operation theatre. The other three arms slip into the body through small holes and provide versatile surgical designed to provide precise movement which is more steady than hands.

These robots combine the best of engineering, science and medicine. The three dimensional view that can be magnified multifold, helps the surgeon achieve precision that prevents collateral damage to healthy tissues.

Treatment made easier

Quick recovery is a big achievement of robotic surgery as many more patients can be treated in the same facility bringing relief to so many new patients. There is little or no pain, as robotic arms enter the body via tiny incisions, healing is quicker for the patient, scarring is minimal, savings on pain management are significant.

Present scenario of robotic surgery in India

Currently in India, there are merely 190 robotic surgeons across 30 hospitals. The company aims to expand the pool of accomplished robotic surgeons to 500 by 2020 and cover 100 hospitals which will also help the economically weaker sections of the society. Recently, the number of cancer patients has risen alarmingly and only 36% of the reported cases got treated. This is one of the major reason to expand Robotic surgery in our country.

It would be interesting to see if companies such as Vattikuti enter this space in India. Healthcare really has a lot of opportunities for businesses. If the VCs and investors come forward to push funds into projects such as this, chances are that the healthcare situation will improve in India. In addition, the role of government is critical in driving the training and adoption of robotic surgery in India.