Robotic Arm- Human Touch - Obesity Surgery India

ROBOTIC ARM - HUMAN TOUCH

Revolution doesn’t happen every day. It sometimes takes decades. The introduction of laparoscopy to surgery is one such revolution, wherein a patient who earlier required a large opening in the abdomen to get a surgery done ,to staying in the hospital for weeks, and taking months to recover, now just requires just a couple of days to completely recover, sometimes even requiring just a few hours only and this has been 3 decades since its introduction with multiple levels of evolution in techniques and technology.
The Revolution Next in surgery is the usage of Robotic technology in surgical practice.

Does Robotic Surgery mean automation using artificial intelligence?

The answer is BIG NO ! Unlike robotic technologies in industrial use wherein this holds well, this is not the case in surgery. In robotic surgery, the surgeon still holds complete control, with the robot being an aid to enable better and safer surgery by the magnification, precision and dexterity it provides enabling better access of organs, structures and tumuors translating into better outcomes. Hence surgical expertise and experience is of paramount importance.

How is it different to conventional laparoscopy?

Robotic surgery is the next step in laparoscopy. Like laparoscopy, the surgery is performed using small holes but instead of the surgeon directly controlling the instruments, he operates via a console where his movements would be reciprocated via the robotic equipment. The inbuilt safety mechanisms prevent unnecessary movements of the instruments reducing the chances of organ injury and complications. Also the movement of the instruments is more precise filtering any kinds of tremors making the removal of the pathologies more accurate.

How is this advantageous to the patients?

Unlike in conventional laparoscopy wherein the ports(access through which the instruments are inserted) move around the abdominal wall during the course of the surgery , in robotic surgery this movement is significantly less as the movements are around the robotic wrist within the abdominal cavity. This reduces the chances of abdominal trauma, hence the associated pain and wound healing. As described earlier, it enables more precise surgery making the removal of the pathologies especially tumours with more accuracy.

Gem Hospital is the only institute to be equipped with the Da Vinci robotic technology among all the gastroenterology specialty hospitals in the country, in addition to being equipped with the 4K and 3D laparoscopy.