How 6 People Changed the Face of Robotic Surgery: A Michigan Ross School of Business Study Paved the Way For Indian Multispecialty Robotic Surgery

“Robotic surgery was a technology that was going nowhere in India.  I hoped to change that,” recalls Professor Mahendra Bhandari, a renowned Urologist and kidney transplant surgeon.  Dr. Bhandari was a student at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.  For his ExecMap Project in 2009, he proposed to create a business model for making expensive robotic surgery more affordable for Indian patients.  He needed classmate-volunteers to join his team for his plan to succeed.  The ambitious project recruited six members, led by Professor Andy Lawlor, who visited India and analyzed the data firsthand. 

From left to right: Rob Barrow, Hannah Hensel, Lynn Bishop, Mahendra Bhandari, Matt Campbell, Skip Kiil

The Ross India trip was a real “eye-opening experience,” according to team member Robert Barrow.  Barrow, now vice president at Wright & Filippis, a large Michigan-based healthcare and prosthetics firm, remembers, “To look at India, with maybe one or two robots that were really not being used, and to develop a true market penetration strategy…  If you look at where we started in 2009, to where you are today, the progress is unbelievable.”

Today in India, there are 28 robotic programs and 3,000 multispecialty procedures done per year.  “In just five years, thanks in part to the plan established by the ExecMap Project, not only has robotic surgery gained a rightful place in Indian hospitals, it has proven that India has the expertise to lead the world in developing new uses for this minimally invasive tool,” says Dr. Bhandari.  Medanta Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery is the pioneer in establishing robotic renal transplants with hypothermia in collaboration with Dr. Mani Menon and the Vattikuti Urology Institute in Detroit.  India is the only country in the world that has multispecialty robotic surgery programs and helps to make this form of surgery cost effective.  Today, the Vattikuti Foundation continues to support robotic surgery efforts in India, Europe, and in the United States.  

WATCH NOW: Rob Barrow's comments:

Read more here: http://vfrsi.vattikutifoundation.com/a-michigan-ross-school-of-business-study-paved-the-way-for-indian-multispecialty-robotic-surgery

Vattikuti Global Robotics 2015: Save the Date!

Pictures from the 2014 Robotic Surgeons Council on our Facebook Page!

Post by Vattikuti Foundation.

Robotic Surgeons Council - A HUGE SUCCESS!

Robotic surgeons of various specialities and hospitals at RSC 2013

The Vattikuti Foundation sponsored a meeting of the Robotic Surgeons Council at the Hotel ITC Maurya.  Over 60 top Indian robotic surgeons participated in a packed, daylong symposium.  Nearly 20 hospitals were represented, and each provided an update on the progress being made in growing the use of the da Vinci surgical system.  Ideas on data sharing, proctoring, training and collaboration were discussed.

Vattikuti Foundation CEO, Dr. Mahendra Bhandari, told the elite gathering that the “Vattikuti Foundation’s intention is to provide a commonplace forum for multi-specialties, multi-institutional activities, and this is purely academic…”

Raj Vattikuti, Foundation president and founder, addressed the group by video, stating that “Our main focus is the quality," and he spoke of how the Foundation’s leadership in Urology has expanded into other disciplines.  He continued to share ideas on how to achieve higher quality and his hopes for the Robotic Surgeons Council:  “We have a great opportunity for India in terms of building this program… Most [importantly], this is not from the Foundation; it is a group you can really help to mold this program in India, and can be the best in the world.”

Stay tuned for more information and video footage!

Practical Robotics Series: The Benefits of Robotic Surgery

Here is the next installment from the Vattikuti Foundation's new series: Practical Robotics. The series includes video coverage from the The Vattikuti Global Robotics 2012 Multispecialty Global Robotics Conference in New Delhi. 

The Benefits of Robotic Surgery is for surgeons who are considering robotic surgery. We hear from over a dozen men and women who rely on the da Vinci surgical robot regularly to perform procedures. In addition, the coverage includes remarks by some surgeons who once were opposed to using surgical robotics. 

We have more VGR footage to come!

Robotic Surgery News: Intuitive Surgical Beats Claims of Negligent Training Practices

Intuitive Surgical has won the first legal battle regarding the training of surgeons who use it's da Vinci surgical robot to perform minimally invasive surgery.  A jury in the state of Washington ruled that Intuitive was not negligent in the case of Fred Taylor, who was 67 when he underwent a radical prostatectomy, and died four years after. His estate was seeking $8.5 million dollars.  Scott Bildsten, the surgeon, was performing his first unassisted case robotically and decided that he had to convert to open due to complications.  Taylor's estate claimed that the surgeon had not been trained properly by Intuitive, and the results of the converted procedure caused severe blood loss, kidney failure, incontinence and impaired brain function.  The company pointed out that it warns surgeons not to operate on patients who are obese like Taylor, and that they are not responsible for the actions of surgeons who use their products.  The company is pleased with the trial results.  The surgeon, according to reports, has settled with the family confidentially.  There are 25 other cases pending across the United States.  At least one firm is actively trying to recruit new clients claiming the results from this case will have little effect on other lawsuits.

For more information about robotic surgery training and safety, please refer the Knowledge Repository Videos section and see all that the Vattikuti Foundation Robotic Surgery Institute has to offer.  We have dozens of robotic surgery videos from the pioneers and best in the world, all free to use.

Reports from Robotic Trends, QMed, Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this story.  




Published by: RoboticTrends

Making robotic surgery easier and safer: a clinical review

Vattikuti Network Surgeon Meenakshi Jain discusses the Jain Technique in her published article, "Making robotic surgery easier and safer: a clinical review" which has been published in the World Journal of Laparoscopic Surgery.

For a direct link to the article, visit http://www.jaypeejournals.com/eJournals/ShowText.aspx?ID=3314&Type=FREE&TYP=TOP&IN=_eJournals/images/JPLOGO.gif&IID=256&Value=4&isPDF=YES.

New Firefly Technology Lights Up More Precise Kidney Sparing Surgery

In the world of kidney cancers, robotic surgery was a huge breakthrough.  Then came the robotic partial nephrectomy which allowed surgeons to keep part of the kidney in tact for the patient.  Now, with a new technology called Firefly, surgeons can help their patients even one step further.

Firefly is a dye that lights up a bright firefly green (hence the name Firefly) which under a floroscopic camera can light up various items, such as blood flow to a tumor, distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells and then verify after the tumor has been removed that the blood supply has been restored to the kidney.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has established kidney cancer as one of the ten most common cancers in America.

For the full article, visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120605143424.htm.

Robot-Assisted Prostate Cancer Surgery More Successful than Open Surgery

The European Urology journal has published a study led by the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  This study compares open radical prostatectomies and robot-assisted radical prostatectomies.  In the short time that robot-assisted radical prostatectomies have been performed, many significant benefits have evoloved for both the patient and surgeon.  For the full article, visit  http://europeanurology.com/article/S0302-2838(11)01411-4/fulltext#section-3-results.

Summary:
Open radical prostatectomies used to be more common than robot-assisted prostatectomies.  This study compares open vs. robot assisted prostatectomies, and shows that robot-assisted radical prostatectomies are now more common and are more succesful than open radical prostatectomies.

This study was based on data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from October 2009-December 2009.  In that time, 11,889 patients had robot-assisted radical prostatectomies and 7,389 patients had open prostatectomies.  This study is based on nationwide data.  Prior comparative studies only compared data within one institution or with one surgeon.  More robot-assisted surgeries were conducted at urban teaching institutions, and most of them were at high-volume hospitals. 

Robot-assisted surgeries were also found to be less likely to:
-Need a blood transfusion
-Have a prolonged hospital stay
-Suffer complications during or after surgery (such as cardiac, respiratory or vascular issues)

This study was led by the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  Henry Ford Hospital is a Vattikuti Foundation Network Hopsital.  Dr. Mani Menon started the robotic surgery program at the Vattikuti Urology Institute in 2000.  He and his team have performed over 7,000 robotic surgeries to date and have published many papers on robotic surgery.

Vattikuti Foundation Partner Uses Surgical Robot to Help African Child

Ashura Ibrahim, a 7-year-old girl from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania had been injured about two years ago in an accident on the road near her home.  Her bladder had been damaged and her only medical option there left her with a tube to drain her urine. Not only was this an embarrassing and difficult thing for a young girl to live with, it was also a health risk.

One year ago, the medical team at Apollo Hospital, Chennai took on the challenge. Pediatric Urologists examined her and Dr. V. Sripathi devised a surgery that used a flap of muscle from her bladder, which was transformed into a tube as a substitute for the urethra.  The drain tube was gone, and she returned home a happy girl.

Recently, Ashura was brought back for a routine checkup.  She was found to have a complication that caused urine to reverse flow back into her kidney.  Her condition was a concern because serious infection and renal damage could result.  More surgery was needed. Because he did not want to do a procedure that would again leave her with the dreaded tube to drain urine, Dr. Sripathi decided to use the daVinci robot to perform a “complex redo on the bladder base”.

The three-and-a half hour procedure was unique.  Dr. Sripathi called it a “first”.    He added, “Robotic surgery enabled us to achieve a perfect result in a very difficult situation with very minimal morbidity, with no pain and helped achieve (patient) discharge within a day.”
Ashura, according to media reports, is again completely happy and living a normal life, back home in Tanzania with her parents.  She will return next year for a follow-up visit.
A very satisfied Dr. Sripathi claims, “Robotic surgery will revolutionize the practice of surgery in children, especially in such complex situations, without resulting to large incisions and prolonged hospitalization.”

Dr. Mahendra Bhandari, C E O of the Vattikuti Foundation said,  “We are very pleased that the Foundation-facilitated establishment of a high powered robotic surgical program was used to help change the life of Ashura, a girl so much in need, so far from her home.  When used in the right hands, the surgical robot truly is a world-changing tool.”

Reports from The Hindu, The Times of India, Apollo Hospitals and the Vattikuti Foundation contributed to this article.   D. Meinhard

Vattikuti Foundation Road Show

Dr. Mani Menon and team are on the road show in 6 cities along with the Vattikuti Technologies and VFRSI team. The team would be performing live surgeries as well as giving lectures on Robotic surgery during the course of the road show.

Founded on April 26, 1997

The Vattikuti Foundation is a non-profit corporation that was founded by Raj and Padma Vattikuti in 1997. The Foundation serves both the local community in Southeast Michigan as well as causes in India and other parts of the world. Through the Vattikuti Foundation Raj and his wife Padma continue to lend their support to a number of worthwhile charitable causes. The Foundation has distinguished itself by founding the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospitals and the Vattikuti Digital Breast Diagnostic Center at Beaumont Hospitals. The Vattikuti Foundation is committed to making robotic surgery and other technologically advanced medical procedures of the future cost effective and available to underprivileged communities. Vattikuti Foundation also focuses on creating an infrastructure to coordinate and reach out to the people who are in poverty through the Poverty Alleviation Initiative program in India. Its initial pilot program has positively affected villages in the Tumkur District of Karnataka. The goal of this project is to reach over a million people over the next ten years.