Taking technological advancement in medicine to a new level, world’s first in-human telerobotic coronary intervention surgery was reportedly performed in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
The patient was a middle-aged woman who suffered a heart attack a few days ago. She volunteered for the procedure. The surgery was conducted by Dr Tejal Patel, the Chief Interventional Cardiologist at Apex Heart Institute in Ahmedabad.
However, he was not present in the same hospital. Dr Patel guided the robot to perform the surgery from a remote location in Gandhinagar, around 32 kilometres away.
Apex is the reportedly the first institute outside of the United States to introduce robotic procedures for the heart.
Ahmedabad Mirror quoted Dr Patel as saying:
With this technology, we began with 32 km but soon we can treat patients that are 300 or 3000 km away. It will enable us to cover remote areas and cut down on time spent in a hospital.
He adds that all that is required for this procedure is a catherization lab, a robot and a good internet connectivity.
The stent in one artery of the woman was placed a few days ago through a regular procedure. On Wednesday, for the artery, the stent was placed using telerobotic technology.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)