The Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India , Sponsored by the Vattikuti Foundation, organized two masterclasses on the topic: Computer-assisted Joint Replacement Surgery, Current Status and Future Prospects.

Saturday September 28th: 9 AM- 5 PM, Trident Hotel Bandra Kurla, C-56, G Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai 400 098

Sunday September 29th: 9 AM- 5 PM, Taj Connemara, Binney Road, Chennai

Faculty:
Professor Brian Davies, Emeritus Professor of Medical Robotics at Imperial College London, where he has been since 1983, and is also a senior research investigator there. He is accredited with the development of the world’s first special-purpose robot called Probot. Subsequently he developed the robots for minimally invasive surgery of the hip and knee. He has a PhD in Medical Robotics and was awarded a DSc. in 2001 for his international contribution to Robotic and Computer Aided Surgery systems. He has over 250-refereed papers. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. Prof. Davies has numerous accomplishments in academia and in the business world, including robotic surgical devices. His complete bio can be found by using this link: Click here

Dr. Thadi Mohan is an Orthopaedic Consultant at Amrita Hospital Ernakulam, Kerala, India. He has been serving as a Clinical Professor & Consultant in this charity-cum private Hospital. He has an Orthopaedic clinical practice in Kerala, India with patients consulting him from more than 20 countries worldwide for his experience with the Mako robot. He has had over ten years experience in the UK, before returning to India with an FRCS from the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow and his MCh. from the University of Liverpool. Dr Mohan takes pride in training four Arthroplasty specialized students every year. He also was welcomed as a Presenter for the first JRSI meeting. His web page is: Click here His presentation video is available here: https://vfrsi.vattikutifoundation.com/robotic-partial-knee-replacement-india

Many more key opinion leaders in the field have been invited to participate in the event.

This master class is designed for senior joint replacement surgeons as well as for those just beginning their careers. The objective of this class is to update the knowledge of participants on the variety of technology applicable to joint replacement surgeons, ranging from different navigation systems and robots, to the artificial intelligence driven smart machines on the horizon. One highlight of the event would be to apprise the participants of the cutting edge tools available for personalized care for patients; including additive manufacturing of 3D printed joints. This new technology is expected to provide better iterative control for surgeons, plus increased patient outcome benefits, all at a lower the cost per patient.

The Master Class will provide appraisal of technology on the basis of evidence in literature as well as head to head comparisons of different technologies, discussing the advantages and limitations, according to our experienced panel. This would be a unique opportunity for joint replacement surgeons to update evidence-based information from the stalwarts in the field. After this event, it is hoped that participants can sense the direction of the “wind,” while preparing themselves to embrace and invest in the new technology wisely in their endeavors to give the very best to their patients.

International Guest of the first meeting of the Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India (JRSI), Dr Thomas Coon, was interviewed by Indian news media during his recent visit. Over one dozen outlets picked up the IANS syndicated article:

''India to witness a dramatic improvement in the knee, hip surgeries''

New Delhi, June 26, 2019

With the fast adoption of robot-assisted surgeries, orthopaedic surgeries have come of age globally and India is at the threshold of witnessing a dramatic change when it comes to knee and hip surgeries, a US-based expert has said. According to Dr Thomas Coon, Founder and Medical Director of Coon Joint Replacement Institute in San Francisco, the greatest changes have been in the area of the knee and hip surgeries. "With the addition of robotics, new materials allow us to have longer-lasting joints and improve function for the patient. A large number of adults are afflicted with quite severe arthritis of the knee. The procedures we’ve developed really help to make that much better to prolong life and overall health," Coon told. According to him, very few procedures he was originally trained to perform 35 years ago are still in practice. "There have been two major evolutionary changes in the knee replacement world in the past 15 years. The first being, the adoption of minimally invasive surgery, which I’m credited with inventing.

"The second being robotics which I'm also a part of the pioneering group and design surgeon for that process. I am very pleased that those results have been very good for patients," informed Coon who was in the capital this month to train surgeons and help introduce the robotic platform in the country.

He told the surgeons how the "Mako" robotic system for hip and Knee surgery -- a robotic-arm assisted surgical technology -- is transforming the way hip and knee replacements are performed. "We are using 3D planning with Mako as it is based on CT scan. CT scan allows us to better reproduce the normal anatomy. "Secondly, we are not just navigating cutting block or an alignment tool but also navigating the tip of the cutting instrument, that allows us to do a much better and accurate job with our bone cuts," he explained. Coon has been using the Mako robotic system for partial knee replacement since 2006 and the total knee for nearly four years now.

"We’re now getting early investigative data that is showing that patient satisfaction is statistically significantly better with the Makoplasty system," he said.

Photos: Dr Coon addressing the JRSI May 25, 2019 (added by the VF, not in the IANS report).

Opening Remarks, Dr. Mahendra Bhandari JRSI Meeting May 25, 2019

Good afternoon, I am Mahendra Bhandari, from the Vattikuti Foundation, and I take this opportunity to welcome you and thank you profusely for acceding to our request to join this event at an ultra short notice. Let me tell you, this is not the usual way Foundation works. But many times, we need to be flexible to accommodate and enrich the scientific program. This is why we advanced this event to include Dr. Coon’s presence, after I learned that he would already be coming here this week.

Thank you very much for giving me a privilege to address an audience of outside my own specialty. I’m an Urologist and kidney transplant surgeon, and am addressing an elite group of joint replacement surgeons.

I am here to answer a series of questions you might have about the Vattikuti Foundation such as: What is Vattikuti Foundation? How does it function? The Foundation is named after Raj and Padma Vattikuti. Raj is a very successful businessman and owns and manages several successful companies, including Vattikuti Technologies. It was in the late nineties they decided to give part of their wealth back to society. He and his wife Padma established the Vattikuti Foundation. The Foundation’s goal was to improve the quality of human life and to advance the treatment of cancer. The Foundation began functioning in Michigan, the place of their residence and subsequently started its operation in India, their home country. Dr. Mani Menon, eminent Urologist and the Chair of Urology at the Henry Ford Hospital won a grant for funding his research. The Department of Urology at Henry Ford Hospital was selected as the site to receive a Vattikuti grant of several millions. This money paved way for establishing the famous Vattikuti Urology Institute, the birthplace of robotic surgery. It coincided with the time that the da Vinci robot was introduced by Intuitive Surgical Company. The robot was originally recommended to be used for Cardiac surgery, but thanks to Mani Menon’s considerable efforts, it was discovered to be a beneficial tool in Urology. It is Dr. Menon who developed the majority of the robotic procedures for Prostate, Kidney and the Urinary bladder. Today, robotic surgery has become the standard of care across the world.

Being surgeons, we remember that every innovative product, which comes to market, goes through a process of co-creation, wherein many surgeons, over the period of years, contribute enormously in establishing procedures for these new devices. We surgeons, using our ingenuity, develop techniques, which the original manufacturers never thought of! I look after the robotic surgery program of the Vattikuti Foundation and work at the Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI), Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit. It was in 2010, when the Foundation resolved to establish a robotic surgery program in India, which was just in its infancy then. Mr. Raj Vattikuti, Mani Menon and myself, all three of us with roots in India, decided to bring in this technology to our homeland. At that time there were six robots. None of these were performing well- all were economically unviable.

At that time, it was hard to convince surgeons and institutions, because the equipment- being a monopoly of the company- was expensive to purchase and manage, at best, and the value for this investment was yet to be proven in India.

The Foundation is to be credited with the growth of multi-specialty robotic surgery in India. Thanks to our India-specific model for its use, in less than a decade, we now have 70 da Vinci installations. In 2018, India contributed 8,000 procedures performed in 8 specialties with several high volume and highly skilled centers. We didn’t stop there with that success story; we kept looking for new technologies. One of the technologies, which I wanted to bring here, was Mako, because in 2013, when we became familiar with Mako, it only had Partial Knee applications. Hip and knee modules were awaited, and the volumes of Partial Knee Resurfacing done in India were too low to make it an economically viable technology. Still, the Foundation considered it to be a disruptive technology, deserving to be brought to India. Currently, the Stryker Mako system has all the required modules, including Total Knee, Partial Knee and Hip Replacement. Mako is now being used across the world- with great patient and surgeon satisfaction, very encouraging outcomes.

Robotic surgical technology has had a much quicker penetration, compared to cell phones and other technologies. This is because of the precision, and the tools, which really assist surgeons to perform their jobs better. The Foundation’s mission is to improve surgical education, and grow technically trained human resources. We look for the surgeons who believe in technology and are committed to improving patient outcomes.

The Foundation encourages innovation. If you would look up the literature, you will find that a majority of urological procedures done with da Vinci assistance were developed at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. We adopted a fast track in the development of new surgical techniques, leveraging our strength through global collaboration and then by publishing extensively.

Last in the series of new procedures developed by the Vattikuti Urology Institute was robotic renal transplant surgery incorporating hypothermia, which was conceived in United States, implemented successfully in India with our partners at Medanta Institute and the IKDRC Ahmedabad. To ensure patient safety and control the learning curve during initial cases, we followed I. D. E. A. L. guidelines as recommended by the Oxford University group. Subsequently, the Foundation has supported its growth into Europe, the United States and India by mentoring surgeons. And now 17-centers across Europe, 10 centers in India, and 1 center in United States have embraced this procedure as the standard of care. We have a network of global institutions established with the purpose- to serve the interest of Indian institutions.

Realizing the need for high quality data, the Foundation has established the Vattikuti Collaborative Quality Initiative database (VCQI), which is a multi-procedural, HIPAA compliant database. Till date, it has neat records of 20,000 procedures contributed from several centers across the world.

The Foundation and the Vattikuti Urology Institute at the Henry Ford Hospital strongly believe in extensive collaboration among its network institutions and with institutions outside its network. Besides our flagship Henry Ford Hospital, in India we have established Medanta Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery, KIMS Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery (Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences), and the Manipal Institute of Robotic Surgery at Bengaluru.

We have funded the OLV Vattikuti Institute at Aalst, Belgium, which is now one of the largest training centers of robotic surgery in Europe. We are partnered with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, (New York). In suburban Detroit, we have supported the Providence Vattikuti Women’s Robotic Surgery Center. We also have a strong partnership with King’s College London, and colleagues at the Lister Hospital.

We propose to replicate the same story in the field of joint replacement in India.

The Foundation believes in onsite mentoring to help surgeons to learn surgery safely. We brought the most accomplished surgeons here, at a huge cost to the Foundation, to mentor robotic surgeons in India. These surgeons guided the local surgeons, while they performed these da Vinci procedures directly under their supervision, helping them to master these procedures before being performed independently. We brought about 150 surgeons, from all over the world as our resource people. At that point in time, India did not have any qualified surgeons, at least in Urology, only two centers were doing robotic surgery. Now, India doesn’t need anybody from outside, because we have world-class Indian robotic surgeons! I believe we can do the same for joint replacement surgeons.

Till date, we have organized 11 Robotic Surgeons Council of India meetings. We also organized two major international meetings named the Vattikuti Global Robotics Multispecialty Conferences.

This is the first meeting of the Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India, and I hope to continue to organize these meetings regularly. These events are funded primarily by the Vattikuti Foundation. We prefer destination meetings to avoid distractions. We also encourage evidence-based discussions at these meetings.

If you look at our report card for the da Vinci program in India, we have trained total of 309 surgeons, in different specialties.

The Foundation runs a very popular robotic surgery Fellowship program in India. By now, we have funded training for about fifty Fellows, who are currently holding positions as independent da Vinci surgeons in India and in the United States. The Fellows are selected from all over India on the basis of merit for a one-year Vattikuti Fellowship at accredited training centers. We advertise through our website and through print and social media. In the most recent selection, we selected seven Fellows out of 108 applicants.

There is also one International Fellowship at the Vattikuti Urology Institute, and two Fellowships for training in advanced robotic surgery at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York.

We also award traveling Scholarships, to facilitate the participation of young surgeons for meetings such as this. In this audience we have selected 10 such traveling scholars. These young surgeons now have an opportunity to be face to face with the best in the field.

Our website is very informative and vibrant. You could find all about the Foundation and its programs on our website. I would request you to please visit it soon.

As a rule, the Foundation doesn’t support any capital expenditures; we don’t give any money for equipment or buildings. We try to invest our resources very judiciously, in order to grow human resources.

Thank you very much. Once again, I thank you for coming here, and look forward to interact with you frequently, during various scientific programs to be organized in times to come under the aegis of the Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India.

For more information, please email: JRSI@vattikutifoundation.com

The meeting of the Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India on May 25th hosted some of India's to joint replacement surgeons, and featured several Indian surgeons, plus American Surgeon Dr. Thomas Coon, who delivered the Keynote.

Here is what the guests have to say:

Dr Harnam S Madan
"I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to attend the academic feast and gain the knowledge of robotics and navigation in THA and TKR. The MAKO from Stryker indeed has a great future in India. I wish to reiterate my immense desire to learn this advanced technology as an edge to the conventional orthopaedics."

Dr. Kanagasarathy Kanagasarathy
"It was a wonderful programme (JRSI) at New Delhi, India. (I) happened to meet the pioneers in Joint Replacement Surgery and had good networking with them. I feel privileged to get the scholarship for such a meeting and looking forward to more such meetings."

Dr. Mohan Thadi
"Thanks Dr. Bhandari for the opportunities. Interesting possibilities ahead. I like the scope of Partial Knee and will seriously take it up."

Dr. B. S. Murthy
"It was a great and interesting programme. I really enjoyed the programme and lectures. Again, thank you for the opportunity given to gain knowledge."

Dr. Yugal Karkhur
"It's fantastic to get an in-depth overview in the MAKO and future of ROBOTIC surgery."

Dr. Mahendra Bhandari, CEO of the Vattikuti Foundation announces the formation of a new association for Orthopedic Surgeons. The Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India will hold their first meeting on May, 25, 2019. Excerpted from the initial announcement: .

The Vattikuti Foundation is pleased to announce the first Joint Replacement Surgeons Council of India meeting, to be held at the Novotel New Delhi Aerocity Hotel May 25, 2019, 4:30-8:30 PM, followed by cocktails and dinner. Robotic joint replacement surgeon Dr. Thomas Coon from San Francisco will be the international guest speaker. The theme of the program would be “Precision Joint Replacement Surgery”. Experts in the field of different joint replacements, including navigation and robotics have been invited to present their vast experience. This event will offer a great opportunity for young surgeons to learn the latest trends and interact with the leading experts on joint replacement in the world. .

The Vattikuti Foundation is a charitable organization known for its contributions in developing robotic surgery across the world, including India. Focus on the expanding field of Joint Replacement surgery in India is a new initiative of the Foundation, because we believe that India is poised to become a global leader in Orthopedic Robotic Surgery. .

For years, the Vattikuti Foundation has supported the training of da Vinci robotic surgeons in India through its several educational programs such as the Robotic Surgeons Council of India meetings, national and international Fellowships, and Master Classes on cutting edge subjects. The Foundation also invests in surgical innovation. One such example is the development of Robotic Kidney Transplant Surgery With Regional Hypothermia, which was developed in India in collaboration with our international partners and has now become a standard of care in a large number of centers in Europe, India and United States. Those with an interest in attending may email the Foundation at: jrsi@vattikutifoundation.com. .

The Vattikuti Foundation has awarded several Vattikuti Travel Scholarships for current Residents and Fellows interested in furthering their careers in Joint Replacement Surgery. No further Scholarship applications will be accepted, but attendance may still be awarded on a case-by-case basis. .

All interested parties wishing to attend the JRSI meeting should email the Vattikuti Foundation as soon as possible! .

Contact us at: jrsi@vattikutifoundation.com.