World’s First-in-Human Telerobotic Coronary Intervention was performed by UK based Dr. Tejas Patel, Chairman and Chief Interventional Cardiologist of the Apex Heart Institute (API) at Ahmedabad. This is the world’s first Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) conducted from a remote location outside of the catherization lab which is an important breakthrough in the history of medical science in India.
The operation was performed from Swaminarayan Akshardham temple, located at a distance of roughly 32 km from catherization lab of API where the patient was admitted and attended to by Dr. Sanjay Shah. The success of this study paves the way for large-scale, long-distance tele-robotic platforms across the globe.
“The first-in-human case of remote robotic PCI represents a landmark event for interventional medicine. Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are the number one cause of death worldwide resulting in nearly 18 million deaths per year.
“The application of telerobotics in India has the potential to impact a significant number of lives by providing access to care that may not otherwise have been possible,” said Dr. Tejas Patel, Chairman and Chief Interventional Cardiologist of API.
Tele-robotic coronary interventional platform has the potential to dramatically improve patient access for both elective and emergent percutaneous coronary interventions and stroke in rural and underserved populations. It will reduce time to treatment for emergent procedures such as STEMI and stroke and will also reduce variability in operator skills and thus, improve clinical outcomes. Dr Tejas Patel used CorPath® technology of Corindus Vascular Robotics, Inc. to conduct this operation.
Mark Toland, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corindus, stated- “Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are the world’s most significant and under-treated clinical problem due to limited access to specialized, timely medical care.”
As a result of existing barriers to care, including increased global poverty and a declining number of trained specialists, only a fraction of patients worldwide receive life-saving treatment, resulting in substantial death or disability.
“We anticipate that our technology will revolutionize cardiovascular disease treatment by providing specialized and timely medical care to anyone, anywhere.” explained Mr. Toland.
Geographic barriers, socioeconomic status and a rapidly shrinking number of skilled specialists significantly hinders patient access to specialized cardiovascular care. This is especially of concern during highly emergent medical events, such as heart attacks and stroke, where ideal treatment must be received in as little as 90 minutes or within 24 hours, respectively, to avoid death or permanent disability.
