Medical innovation: Tumour removed from patient remotely via tele-surgery

IN a show of medical innovation which can open gates for remote surgeries, a cancer patient went under the knife where a surgeon removed the cancerous tumour from his body sitting remotely.

- ASHISH SRIVASTAVA

The surgeon conduct the operation in a different city through tele-surgery while the patient remained in the OT of a hospital where he was admitted for his treatment.

Reported as the first such case in the country, the patient went under the knife at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre in Rohini. The surgeon, who performed the operation sitting in Gurgaon, conducted the surgery through a robotic technology placed in the OT which shadowed the surgeon in real time.

Dr Sudhir Rawal, Medical Director of the Hospital and the surgeon in the case, said the surgery was performed at the same pace and duration which it would have taken if he was physically present in the OT.