Advanced systems of AI, grouped with robotics, perform surgeries with minimal risk of complications: Dr. Raghavendra Babu

Shahid Akhter, editor, ETHealthworld, spoke to Dr. Raghavendra Babu, senior consultant and the Director of the Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Sciences, Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, to find out about the robotic advancements in cancer care and the introduction of clinics at Cytecare.

Robotics in cancer surgeries
It's a well-known fact that smaller incisions lead to less trauma, a speedy recovery and better outcomes. In my opinion, minimally invasive surgery has been at the forefront of making this happen. While we carry out advanced surgeries by making a very small incision, this method itself has been improving on a regular basis. The next addition to this is robotic surgery. There is obviously a limitation in laparoscopic surgeries, and this is where robotics come into play.

Over the past ten years, there have been various generations of robotics and we are currently working with its 5^th generation. With robotics being used in surgery we can do advanced cancer surgeries like surgeries of the Rectum, Liver, and Pancreas - which have traditionally been done by making bigger incisions, which meant that the patient had to stay for a longer period at the hospital and subsequently, the recovery period was also longer than it is right now.

With the help of minimal invasive techniques and robotic surgeries, we can now send the patient home within two days after the surgery. This also allows the patient to be able to get back to work within a week or so. Additionally, it also leads to taking systemic therapy quite early if it’s cancer, letting the patient opt for therapies like Chemotherapy without delay. Hence, the overall outcome and curing of cancer is better and faster.

In fact, there have been a lot of artificial intelligence systems being grouped with robotics. This has been of massive help to perform even more advanced surgeries with minimal risk of complications.

For instance, the scans of patients are fed into the robot when we are performing the surgery, following which they super impose the scanned images onto the real organs using augmented reality. This helps the surgeon to precisely detect a tumour, while having visual assist in locating crucial blood vessels and structures. The surgeon can then work around these structures and shield them, which decreases the risk of complications.

Launch of clinics at Cytecare Cancer Hospitals
At Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, we have recently launched five clinics which include - Liver Clinic, a Pancreas Clinic, Bowel and Stoma Clinic, Obesity & Weight Loss Clinic and a Gastritis Clinic. The significance of these clinics is that they cover the entire spectrum of Gastro-Intestinal diseases.

With the help of these five clinics, we at Cytecare offer our patients a holistic, team approach. This means that tests are recommended based on symptoms and once the results have been received, the team sits together and decides the best treatment course for the patient.

The best treatment may be consulting a dietician, or a physiotherapist, or a surgeon - this will be collective decision by the team at Cytecare. We at Cytecare have a treatment module that is driven by clinical and non-clinical approach and a comprehensive care mechanism. Therefore, any patient who comes to Cytecare gets the best possible treatment from a team of highly experienced medical experts.