Eyeing $130 mn biz from robotic surgery systems, Vattikuti Tech to train 500 robotic surgeons by 2020

Robotic surgery scores over conventional surgery, however there are only 190 robotic surgeons in India across 30 hospitals

The distributor of da Vinci surgical systems in India, Vattikuti Technologies, will train  500 robotic surgeons by 2020 across 100 hospitals in the country.

The Bangalore based company is eying for USD 130 million worth business in India by 2020. It will sell around 15 to 20 robots every year which cost between USD 1.2 million and USD 2 million each.

Currently there are 190 robotic surgeons in India across 30 hospitals. Through CSR arm – Vattikuti Foundation, the company will focus on the surgeon training, geographic reach and complete package.

“We will grow the pool of accomplished robotic surgeons to 500 besides motivating young surgeons to adopt robotic surgery, Raj Vattikuti, founder, Vattikuti Foundation, told Express Computer, adding they will offer 100 paid fellowships to super specialist surgeons, over the next 5 years, to make them robotic surgeon.

da Vinci surgical systems are robotic surgical systems made by the American company Intuitive Surgical to facilitate complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach and controlled by a surgeon from a console.

Robotic surgeries provide succor to patients suffering from prostrate, gynecological, head & neck, lung and colorectal cancer as the chances of errors are minimised, procedures don’t cause scarring and recovery is faster, said a statement from Vattikuti Technologies.

“Even though 4,000 robot-assisted surgeries were performed in 2015, representing a five-fold increase in 5 years, India has not even scratched its potential, as the benefit can be passed to the masses beyond metro locations,” said Raj Vattikuti.

In order to promote robotic surgery in India, Vattikuti Technologies will reach out to specialised cancer centers, large government hospitals and small hospitals in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. In the North, the Foundation will be targeting Bhopal, Delhi NCR, Jabaplur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Varanasi and Srinagar, said company officials.

Robotic surgery scores over conventional surgery, as it minimises blood loss, drastically reduces the post-operative recovery time, and brings precision in executing the procedure, thus saving healthy tissue from damage. The quick healing and lower pain-levels translate to shorter hospital stays and quick return to work.

Surgical robots with 4 arms can reach organs and areas where human fingers can’t. The 3-dimensional view, that can be magnified multifold, helps the surgeons achieve precision that prevents collateral damage to healthy tissue.

As the incidence of tongue and mouth cancers are very high in India, head and neck surgery for cancer at the base of the tongue can best be undertaken using the robot, with least pain and scarring to the patient, said Raj Vattikuti.

The Bangalore based company informed that large corporate hospitals such as Apollo, Fortis, Max, Medanta; Government hospitals such as AIIMS, Delhi, PGI, Chandigarh, Delhi State Cancer Institute; and Trust hospitals such as Tata Memorial, Mumbai, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute are using the da Vinci Surgical Robots.