After the automobile sector, the advent of robotic technology is set to make the maximum impact in the field of precision surgery, in order to avoid human errors.
With joint replacement surgery becoming common nowadays, the technology has recently entered the country and is set to become the norm in a decade, observes Vijay Kishore Kondreddy, senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Apollo Main Hospitals, Chennai.
Speaking to the media here on Sunday, he said robotic-assisted surgery would avoid unnecessary cuts, cause minimal invasion and thus less bleeding and aid exact placement of the implant. “For the patient, it will be less painful, ensures durability and helps in faster recovery,” says Dr. Kondreddy, who got trained in the USA.
Apollo Chennai is the lone hospital in the entire Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh States to offer the facility. In fact, the Chennai centre is the first to get the sophisticated facility for the entire Apollo network of 54 hospitals, where ten joint replacement surgeries have been performed so far.
Quizzed on the advantages of a handheld robotic device over the traditional form of orthopaedic surgery, Dr. Kondreddy laid stress on precision. “All knees are not custom-made. It is hence a CT scan of the knee is taken and a 3D virtual model developed. Based on this, the doctor evaluates the bone structure, severity of disease, joint alignment and surrounding bone and tissue so that the optimal size, placement and alignment of the implant is determined,” he explained.
A surgery with the nascent technology costs a few tens of thousands of rupees more initially over the traditional method, but Dr. Kondreddy feels that it would become the order of the day in a decade and thus affordable..
