Surgical robotic player sees product adopted in Indian hospital

CMR Surgical has seen its Versius surgical robotic system adopted by Galaxy Care Hopsital in Pune, India – becoming the first hospital in the world to procure the product.

A range of surgical procedures have already been conducted using Versius at its centre for laparoscopy, including transthoracic, hysterectomies and myomectomies, under the leadership of Dr. Shailesh Puntambekar.

Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, consultant oncologist, surgeon and medical director of Galaxy Care will lead the team using Versius. He is responsible for training laparoscopy to surgeons from all over the world, aiming to bring the benefits of minimal access surgery to patients globally. 

He said: “As an experienced surgeon in robotic assisted surgery I think that there is significant potential for Versius to further increase access to laparoscopic surgery for my patients, so it was a natural choice to acquire this system. Versius, as a small and cost-effective system is well suited for meeting the high surgical demand in India. We are excited to bring the next-generation surgical robot to India.”

Dr Puntambekar has performed robotic-assisted surgery in India for over a decade and will be responsible for the introduction of Versius to Galaxy Care. Versius has been designed to support surgeons with the aim of delivering the benefits of minimal access surgery to patients around the world. 

Mark Slack, chief medical officer, CMR Surgical, said: “Galaxy Care has become our first customer to acquire and use Versius and this is an important milestone in bringing the benefits of minimal access surgery to all. We are pleased to be working with a centre that has some of the best surgeons in the world, meeting a high surgical demand. It is important that we bring Versius to market responsibly and we are delighted to be working closely with Galaxy Care on the introduction of Versius in the hospital.”

The commercial introduction of Versius also marks the launch a clinical registry. The clinical registry managed by CMR Surgical, working in partnership with customers is recording and monitoring the patient outcomes of all procedures conducted using the Versius Surgical Robotic System in order to ensure patient safety. Outcome measures being recorded include: operative time, length of stay, return to hospital within 30 days, and return to operating room within 24 hours. 

Versius Surgical Robotic System is expected to be introduced in hospitals across Europe this year.