Surgical robotics training facility inaugurated at AIIMS, Delhi

NEW DELHI: The AIIMS Delhi has inaugurated a state-of-the-art surgical robotics training facility at the SET -- skill, e-learning and telemedicine facility -- of the institute. This is a public-private partnership between the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and India Medtronic Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medtronic plc.

Conceptualised and set up under the leadership and vision of Dr M Srinivas, Director, AIIMS-New Delhi, the center will provide surgeons with best-in-class training in robotic-assisted surgeries, an AIIMS official said on Tuesday.

The inauguration of the facility places the institute once again on the global map as AIIMS New Delhi is the only government-funded medical institution to offer simulation-based robotics training in this part of the world, the official said.

The new training facility was inaugurated by Dr M Bajpai, Dean, Academics, in the presence of Dr Arvind Bagga, Chairman, SET facility, Dr V Seenu (Faculty in-charge, WET Lab, SET facility; joined virtually), Dr Ambuj Roy, Professor in-charge, SET facility, and Michael Blackwell, vice-president and managing director, Medtronic India.

The partnership brings together novel technology and decades of surgical expertise at the AIIMS New Delhi to train surgeons nationwide and expand access to the benefits of the RAS, the official said. The RAS is an emerging medical technology that can help standardize surgical procedures and enable surgeons to perform complex surgeries.

 The training center will offer a broad spectrum of training to enhance the knowledge and skill set in RAS, ranging from basic skill training to procedural training to more advanced and specialized areas in soft-tissue surgery. "The training will help impart procedural knowledge skills using surgical robotics among surgeons, fellows and residents from across the country.

 Setting up a robotic surgery training facility at the AIIMS, New Delhi puts the institution as well as the nation on the world map by being a one-of-its-kind center in a government-aided medical institution to impart such training in this part of the world," the official said. The AIIMS has always been at the forefront in improving patients' access to quality care and setting up the surgical robotics training centre is a step in that direction, the official added.