Dr. Sudhir Rawal, a longtime Mentor Surgeon for the Vattikuti Fellowship Program has performed an Indian 'First.'
Rawal, Medical Director and Chief, GenitoUro Oncologic Surgery for the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, was 40 KM away from the hospital, when he performed remote surgery for bladder cancer on an Indian man in his mid-50's. He was located in the offices of SSI, Gurugram.
Using the Indian-designed and built SSI Mantra robot, Dr. Rawal was able to complete the procedure in 1-hour, 45-minutes. The patient was reported as doing well, post-surgery. When performed using open surgery, the complicated procedure could be expected to take 3-hours.
Fiber-optic communication lines were essential for the telesurgery. The remote Surgeon Console needed a fast, stable communication link with the surgical robots in the operating theatre at RGCI&RC. It is hoped that this success will lead to revolutionary opportunities for patients in remote locations in the future. Dr. Rawal was quoted as saying the surgery achieved: "Flawless results."
We congratulate Dr. Rawal on this successful accomplishment and thank him for his dedication to his patients and our Fellowship Program.
