New Delhi: Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Center, New Delhi (RGCI) have installed the first-ever Made-in-India Surgical Robotic System, SSI-Mantra, devised by the new-age Indian med-tech start-up SS Innovations. The ingenious SSI Mantra, a brainchild of World-renowned robotic cardiac surgeon Dr. Sudhir P Srivastava, will be signifying the beginning of a new era of surgical procedures in India, making robotic surgery accessible and affordable for the people of our country.
After two pilot projects where Dr. Sudhir Rawal and his team from RGCI successfully performed a total of 26 surgeries with the SSI Mantra, thereby validating safety, feasibility, and effectiveness, the robot is now ready to provide an advanced method of surgery, which will be accessible to the general public at a much lower cost.
On this momentous occasion Dr. Sudhir Rawal, Medical Director, RGCI said “I have used the SSI Mantra System on many of my patients. In its present form, the performance is quite good, and I could use the System for many very complex operations. Many more patients in India and around the world will benefit from this technology based on quality and cost-effectiveness.”
SS Innovations has made the nation proud, being the first company in South Asia to launch this epoch- making machine SSI Mantra, a technologically advanced surgical robotic system that has more and better features and applications than existing Surgical Robotic Systems and is much less expensive. This machine will revolutionize the idea of surgery practices in our homeland and around the world in terms of precision, technical advancement, and cost reduction, making expensive robotic surgery available for the common people.
Dr. Sudhir P Srivastava, Founder, Chairman & CEO, SS Innovations, popularly known as The Robo Doctor, on this occasion said, “Based on the benefits I have seen in Robotic Surgery patients and observing very poor availability of Surgical Robotic Systems in India and many other developing economies, I made it my mission to develop a new Surgical Robotic System that would offer better and more advanced technology features, applicable in most specialties including Cardiac Surgery and be cost-effective. We at SSI were able to achieve this vision with the help of some very talented engineers from India and highly experienced global scientists.”
Apart from Dr. Sudhir P Srivastava and Dr. Sudhir K Rawal (Medical Director, RGCI), Dr. Somashekhar S P (Chairman & HOD Surgical Oncology, Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Care Center) and
Dr. Arun Prasad (Bariatric and Robotic Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals) was also a part of this prestigious occasion to brief and interact with the media.
This cutting-edge SSI Mantra is modular, flexible, and versatile in comparison to leading global surgical systems, which dominated the surgical robotics market with a monopoly to date. What makes SSI Mantra even more promising for the future is that it was developed in only under five years, which would have been further accelerated if it were not for delays caused by the pandemic!
Last but not the least, the commonage of the country will have cheaper access to better surgical procedures from this day on.
About SSI Mantra: The SSI Mantra Surgical Robotic System is a modular multi-arm system with many advanced technology features. It allows for the use of 3-5 robotic arms, has an open-faced ergonomic Surgeon Command Centre, 32-inch large 3D HD monitor, a 23-inch 2D Touch panel monitor for all patient- related information display, a virtual real-time image of the robotic Patient Side Arm Carts, and the ability for superimposition of holographic DICOM images. The Vison Cart gives the table-side team the same magnified 3D HD view as the Surgeon to provide better safety and efficiency. The modular robotic arms give flexibility in positioning and the number of arms to be used. This allows for collision-free conduct of surgical operations. There are over 30 different types of robotic endo-surgical instruments that can be used for different specialties including Cardiac Surgery. The learning curve is short due to its very thoughtful design and user-friendly features.
About Dr. Sudhir P Srivastava: SSI Mantra is the brainchild of Dr. Srivastava, a world-famous robotic cardiac surgeon, who is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sudhir Srivastava Innovations Pvt Ltd (SS Innovations). Dr. Srivastava received his medical degree at J.L.N. Medical College in Rajasthan at the age of 21. Shortly thereafter, he left for the United States where he started his post-graduate training and finally completed his residency in General and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of British Columbia Hospitals in Vancouver, Canada.
In 2003, as the founding chairman along with 10 other physicians, he founded Alliance Hospital, a centre of excellence in cardiovascular disease in West Texas, USA. While there, he performed the world’s first single vessel ‘Totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass’ (TECAB).
Dr. Srivastava is the only person in the world to have performed a quadruple TECAB on a beating heart while at the University of Chicago. In his career, Dr. Srivastava has performed over 1400 robotic cardiothoracic surgeries, including 750 beating heart TECAB cases that represent the largest experience in the world.
It was his passion to expand the minimally invasive surgical techniques, that drove him to teach and train over 350 surgical teams globally in robotic coronary bypass procedures and it is that same passion that helped him lead the development of the SSI Mantra system after seeing the disparity in the global access to robotic surgery. According to him, this robotic surgery technology has attributes such as 3D vision, which can be magnified up to 10 times, with a true high definition 1080p resolution, which provides an absolute and very precise depth of view. The machine filters any tremors the surgeon may have. The number of complications is significantly reduced. There is less trauma because the incisions are small, and they heal very quickly. There is no disruption of the muscles or the thoracic cage. So, the patients recover very quickly, Blood loss is less. The hero of the theater of robotic operation came back to India in 2011 with his family and bags to serve the Motherland.
