India's First Indigenous Surgical Robot, SSI Mantra, Makes History with 1st Heart Surgery
Hyderabad, April 14 2023: Technological advancements, especially in medical science has witnessed a stupendous increase in India. One such technology is Robotic Surgery. India prides itself with a technology advanced indigenous robotic system, the SSI MANTRA, the brainchild of Dr. Sudhir Prem Srivastava, a world renown robotic cardiac surgeon and pioneer in the field. SSI MANTRA has been developed with a vision to make the robotic system affordable resulting in the decreased cost of surgeries so that the common man can have access to gold-standard, high-tech and qualitative medical care.
With more than 130 successful and flawless surgeries since its first commercial installation in August 2022, the SSI MANTRA Surgical Robot system has created history once again today, this time in Continental Hospital, Hyderabad. The robotic surgery system was deployed on a 35 year old patient for Robotic Assisted LIMA (Left Internal Mammary Artery) Takedown Surgery. The procedure – LIMA Takedown with Pericardial Opening, is a coronary artery bypass surgery with a single graft. To put it in simple terms, the left internal mammary artery is taken out from the internal wall of the chest and then grafted or bypassed beyond the area of occlusion for the coronary artery on the heart. LIMA is a life-saving coronary artery bypass procedure that involves the left internal mammary artery and the left anterior descending artery. It opens the heart's blood flow, restoring full function to the heart, thus saving the life of the patient.
The latest guidelines suggest minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass which involves tiny fingertip sized incisions (compared to an open surgery – Sternotomy, a midline incision through the sternum). Minimally invasive surgery is possible only through a robotic surgery, which guarantees precision in surgery and a much faster recovery period, with patient discharge often occurring only 1-2 days following heart surgery and full functional recovery within a week to ten days.
Commenting on this historic feat achieved by SSI MANTRA, Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, Founder, Chairman & CEO, SS Innovations and the brain behind SSI MANTRA said, “the success of the heart surgery today in Hyderabad using SSI MANTRA further cements the superiority of the system to be able to perform cardiac surgeries with utmost precision. This has spurred the team at SS Innovations to scale the next height and take on more challenging surgeries with renewed vigour”.
With Dr. Sudhir Srivastava helming the surgical procedure for his vast experience in robotic cardio surgeries, he was ably supported by Dr. Pradheep K Rachakonda , Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Continental Hospital and an enthusiastic team of doctors from the hospital, without whose support, this feat wouldn’t be a reality and borne fruit.