Guwahati: A Guwahati-based hospital has performed a rare “office telerobotic surgery,” after a gall bladder stone procedure was carried out remotely on Wednesday.Doctors said the patient was recovering well and is likely to be discharged within the next 48 hours.The Guwahati-based Swagat Endolaparoscopic Surgical Research Institute and Swagat Superspeciality Surgical Hospital said the procedure was conducted between the group’s Shantipur and Maligaon facilities, about two kilometers apart.The patient-side SSI Mantra Surgical Robotic System was docked in the operation theater at the Maligaon hospital, while lead surgeon Prof. Subhash Khanna operated remotely from the Shantipur institute using an indigenously developed remote surgeon console chair called ‘Mantrasan’.“Unlike conventional telesurgery setups that require full robotic consoles at both locations, this system enables the surgeon to perform the procedure entirely from a compact chair equipped with virtual reality visualization, intuitive hand controls, and a stable high-bandwidth, low-latency internet connection. This effectively transforms a standard office space into a fully functional robotic surgical workstation,” the hospital authority said, adding that during the procedure the surgeon views the operative field with his augmented reality glasses and everything is seen in high resolution through these glasses.Prof. Khanna said the effort went beyond demonstrating feasibility and pointed to wider access for advanced surgical care.“With innovations like the Mantrasan, a surgeon can potentially connect to a robotic system anywhere in the world and perform complex procedures, irrespective of distance – whether two kilometers or 2,000 kilometers,” he added.Prof. Swagata Khanna oversaw coordination between the teams at both locations. At the Maligaon hospital, the on-site surgical team included Dr. Pranab Kumar Das, Dr. Supriyo Choudhury, anaesthetist Dr. Kanineeka Das, and trained robotic surgical nurses Alvanisha, Bidya, Lipika and Songita, under the coordination of Rina Pradhan.Engineers from SSI, led by Prashant Kumar, monitored system safety and connectivity.
