Max Healthcare has introduced India’s first da Vinci 5 robotic surgical systems, marking the da Vinci 5 India debut at two of its hospitals. The systems are now in place at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket in New Delhi and Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai, according to Digital Health News. Built by Intuitive, the platform is the latest generation of the company’s robotic-assisted surgery line.
The da Vinci 5 India launch follows Intuitive’s formal introduction of the system in the country in September. The company announced on September 18 that da Vinci 5 would come to India through a focused rollout, letting selected hospitals build experience with the platform before wider adoption. The system carries more than 150 enhancements over the earlier da Vinci Xi. Intuitive, based in California, pioneered robotic-assisted surgery with the original da Vinci system more than two decades ago. The company describes da Vinci 5 as the most capable machine it has built, and India is among the first markets outside the United States to get it.
How da Vinci 5 India changes the operating room
The headline feature of the da Vinci 5 India platform is Force Feedback, a first-of-its-kind technology that lets surgeons feel the push and pull forces on tissue through the hand controls of the console. Surgeons have so far relied mainly on what they could see on screen; the new system adds a sense of touch to the information they work with during a procedure. Intuitive says the platform also has the most realistic 3D vision system in the da Vinci line to date, along with an ergonomic, immersive surgeon console designed for long operations.
The platform also changes the workflow around the surgeon. Key components that used to sit off to the side can now be controlled from the console, and a universal interface means the whole care team sees the same information. Dynamic assistance can take over selected routine tasks, which Intuitive says should cut down on the small frictions that add up over a long operating list. The computing power behind the da Vinci 5 India system is another step up. The company says da Vinci 5 has 10,000 times more computing power than earlier systems, with new sensors and software that collect information from surgery and feed it back to surgical teams. The aim is that teams can study their own performance and keep improving it. In India, the system is cleared for urologic, gynaecologic and general surgery, as well as cardiac and thoracoscopic procedures.
Where da Vinci 5 India fits in a growing market
Robotic-assisted surgery is already expanding fast in the country, and the da Vinci 5 India arrival lands in a busy market. More than 2,000 surgeons in India have trained in robotic-assisted surgery, and more than 275 da Vinci systems are installed across major private and government hospitals. Surgeons in India have used da Vinci systems in more than 200,000 procedures to date, according to Intuitive.
Globally, more than 15,000 surgeons have used da Vinci 5, and the wider body of clinical evidence around Intuitive’s technologies runs to more than 50,000 peer-reviewed publications. Iman Jeddi, senior vice president and general manager of da Vinci platforms and product operations at Intuitive, said the system “represents the next generation of robotic-assisted surgery, combining advanced sensing and vision technologies, intelligent software, and integrated workflows in a single platform.” Rohitt Mahajan, vice president and general manager for India at Intuitive, said the launch marked an important stage in the growth of robotic-assisted surgery in the country.
Max Healthcare has not disclosed what it paid for the two systems or which procedures will use them first. The hospitals named, Saket in Delhi and Nanavati Max in Mumbai, are among the group’s flagship facilities, and their da Vinci 5 India systems are the first commercial installations of the platform in the country.
The Saket and Nanavati Max hospitals are now the first in India to house the da Vinci 5 system, and the da Vinci 5 India story moves from launch announcement to live use.