feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\nEditor\u2019s note: This is the first in a series of stories profiling medtech companies that are changing the field of robotic surgery.<\/p>\n
SS Innovations International is bringing robotic surgery to more people, in more places, by providing a differentiated system at a lower cost than market leader Intuitive Surgical.<\/p>\n
Founder and CEO Sudhir Srivastava, a heart surgeon, became convinced of surgical robotics\u2019 clinical benefits as an early adopter of Intuitive\u2019s pioneering da Vinci system in the early 2000s. The less-invasive robotic approach eliminated the need to split the sternum to reach the heart. Patients were back on their feet much faster than after open heart surgery, with great results, said Srivastava.<\/p>\n
After performing more than 1,400 cardiac cases with da Vinci in the U.S., including about 800 endoscopic coronary artery bypass surgeries and a mix of other procedures, Srivastava returned home to India in 2011 with a plan to launch robotics programs in the country using Intuitive systems. However, the physician soon found the cost of having a robotic procedure was out of reach for most patients.<\/p>\n
Intuitive\u2019s robot was gaining acceptance among surgeons, hospitals and patients worldwide, but market penetration was concentrated in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Billions of people around the globe did not have access to the technology, said Srivastava, \u201cand the main reason was the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
When a 22-year-old patient with a congenital heart defect came to Srivastava hoping to avoid a sternotomy, it proved to be a turning point. The woman, a perfect candidate for robotic surgery, couldn\u2019t raise the money for the procedure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI literally made a commitment and a mission that we must do something with my personal clinical experience,\u201d said Srivastava. He credits Intuitive and its co-founder, Fred Moll, for opening a pathway, via robotics, to advance less-invasive surgical technologies beyond laparoscopy, a technique that also involves operating through small incisions, but by hand. Moll is now vice chairman of SS Innovations\u2019 board.<\/p>\n
Still, the price of robotic surgery was preventing most people in India from accessing it. Surgeons would train to use the system, only to give up on it when not enough patients could afford to have the procedures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt becomes a vicious circle,\u201d said Srivastava. \u201cIf you don\u2019t do enough, you won\u2019t be good at it and usually stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The heart surgeon-turned-entrepreneur set out to change that equation, even if it meant depleting his own savings and selling off personal belongings to fund his dream. \u201cWhatever it took, literally, I was absolutely determined that we must do it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sacrifices are paying off. Today, more than 100 SSi Mantra robots have been installed globally, and the robot has been approved for use in seven countries, including India, Indonesia and the Philippines.\u00a0Physicians have performed more than 5,000 surgical procedures with the system.<\/p>\n
In India, the SSi Mantra robot is less than one-third the price of an Intuitive system, said Srivastava, and related consumable items and maintenance agreements are a third to half the cost of the competition.<\/p>\n
“Although [Intuitive] created a wonderful technology, there are always opportunities to make things better. Newer ways are being discovered, and we can use our thought processes to advance it further.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Sudhir Srivastava<\/p>\n
SS Innovations founder and CEO<\/p>\n
SS Innovations is now working toward regulatory authorization in the U.S. and Europe. The company is preparing to submit a 510(k) application to the Food and Drug Administration at the end of October for multiple indications for the SSi Mantra 3, and expects to receive Europe\u2019s CE mark during the first half of 2026.<\/p>\n
SSi Mantra 3, the company\u2019s newest robot, was launched in June 2024. The system includes up to five modular robotic arms and more than 40 surgical instruments to support numerous specialties, including cardiac surgery.<\/p>\n
Srivastava said it was important to design a robot that was different, more user friendly and, hopefully, better than Intuitive\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole goal was always not to copy. Although [Intuitive] created a wonderful technology, there are always opportunities to make things better,\u201d he said. \u201cNewer ways are being discovered, and we can use our thought processes to advance it further.\u201d<\/p>\n
The surgeon console, hand controls, visualization, mounting and size of the robotic arms were all areas of focus, with the aim of improving clinical outcomes.<\/p>\n
While the system is designed for use across a range of surgeries, a big priority for SS Innovations is expanding robotic surgery in heart procedures. Robotic cardiac surgery has been slower to develop than other specialties due to the complexity and level of risk involved. \u201cI want to revive this field,\u201d Srivastava said.<\/p>\n
About 250 heart surgeries have been completed with the SSi Mantra robot. SS Innovations is also working on a new instrument for coronary artery bypass surgery that Srivastava expects will \u201cabsolutely revolutionize\u201d how the procedure is done, bringing more predictability to the operation.<\/p>\n
Robotic cardiac surgery, said Srivastava, \u201clevels the playing field in terms of the human skill level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The promise of telesurgery<\/p>\n
Srivastava sees telesurgery, where the surgeon performs a procedure from a remote location, as another important way to expand the reach of less-invasive technologies to more people. Reducing travel time for both surgeons and patients is economical and efficient, and can mean faster diagnosis and treatment.\u00a0\u201cWe at SSI are really focused on this,\u201d said Srivastava.<\/p>\n
SS Innovations says it is the only company to have received regulatory approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, India\u2019s equivalent of the FDA, for telesurgery and teleproctoring.<\/p>\n
Cardiac surgery is among the procedures that have been performed long distance using the SSi Mantra robot. Srivastava himself has done several of the cardiac telesurgeries, sometimes sitting thousands of miles away from the patient.<\/p>\n
Advances in high-speed connectivity have made it possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have the technology and we have the speed,\u201d said Srivastava. \u201cThis will really change how care is delivered in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to the article 6 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-37824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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