First govt hospital to go for robot-assisted surgery

Kolkata: Can you ever imagine a robot performing surgeries on its own without a surgeon at a government hospital in the city. The dream will soon come true as Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) has got a multi-tasking robot at the cost of Rs 36 crore.

The robot made by an American based company will soon be made operational at CMCH. It was learnt that the robot has four hands which will perform simultaneously.

The experts said one hand will perform the works of scissors, while the other one will be busy in surgery. The rest two will carry out stitches simultaneously. Surgeons may not need to take part in the operation as the robot will do their job itself. The doctors, nurses and other staff members of the hospital have been trained on how to operate the robot.

According to a senior official of the hospital, it may not be a fully robotic surgery as it would be operated through a control panel where there will be a doctor. The doctor at the control panel will control the hands of the robot. He/She will be able to see the entire operation on a 3 D screen before him.

The surgeon can see the patient and the entire procedure of the operation on the screen. The other surgeons who would assist the surgeon will also be able to watch the operation on a comparatively bigger screen. This is for the first time this type of surgery would be conducted at a government medical college. According to sources, the robot may be taken to other medical colleges in the city according to the requirements.

Dr Nirmal Maji, who is the chairman of Rogi Kalyan Samiti at CMCH said there is a minimal loss of blood in case of robotic surgery as compared to normal surgeries performed by surgeons. Even critical surgeries can be done by this robot in lesser time.

Dr Maji also said it can perform liver transplantation, kidney transplantation, open heart surgeries and angioplasty.

Cancer surgeries can also be done by the use of this robot.

Dr Moloy Bera, head of the urology department at CMCH who have received training on robotic surgery from abroad said there is a automatic safety switch on the robot. If anything goes wrong during the operation, the doctors can stop the robot by applying the automatic safety switch.