SS Innovations announced that surgeons have performed the world’s first pediatric pyeloplasty telesurgery using the company’s SSi Mantra surgical robotic system.
Dr. Chandra Mohan Vaddi of Preeti Urology & Kidney Hospitals operated on a 16-month-old patient in Hyderabad, India, while controlling the system remotely from SS Innovations’ headquarters in Gurugram, nearly 1,000 miles away.
“Our SSi Mantra surgical robotic system continues to lead the way in pioneering new telesurgeries across procedure types. We are thankful for the work of the team members at Preeti Hospital and Dr. Chandra Mohan Vaddi, who utilized the SSi Mantra to perform the world’s first pediatric pyeloplasty telesurgery,” said CEO Sudhir Srivastava. “Compared to traditional methods, robotic surgery affords the potential to be more precise, less invasive with smaller incisions, less painful, and quicker with faster recovery times—all important considerations in both the pediatric space and in general surgery.”
The latest procedure follows SS Innovations’ reports of the first intercontinental robotic cardiac telesurgery and first robotic telesurgery for weight loss in July. It also performed the first robotic cardiac surgeries in the Americas using SSi Mantra 3 in June.
The SSi Mantra is a modular, multi-arm robotic platform with three to five robotic arms, an open-faced surgeon console, and a large 3D 4K monitor. It uses over 40 types of robotic endo-surgical instruments and includes a vision cart that provides the surgical team with the same magnified 3D view as the surgeon. The system has been clinically validated in India for over 100 types of surgical procedures.
To date, more than 50 telesurgeries have been completed using the system across specialties including pediatric, cardiac, urology, gynecology, oncology, and general surgery. Some cases have been performed at distances of up to 4,000 miles.
The company said it plans to expand SSi Mantra’s pediatric capabilities through the development of smaller instruments, part of its effort to broaden access to robotic surgery in underserved regions.
