Long-distance robot-assisted heart surgery and beyond

In 2018, five patients at the Apex Heart Institute in Ahmedabad, India, received treatment for coronary artery disease (CAD) the same way 3 million others do each year: a small balloon was inserted into an artery in the heart and inflated, making way for the placement of a stent to keep the vital pathway open. The procedure, known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is the standard treatment for atherosclerosis, a common CAD marked by the buildup of plaque inside the arteries and a subsequent restriction of blood flow. Like many patients before them, their operation was assisted by a robot--the CorPath GRX robotic platform from Corindus, A Siemens Healthineers Company. Yet unlike anyone else before them, these five patients were part of an amazing first: their principal physician was not in the room with them during the procedure. In fact, he was 20 miles away, guiding the robot--performing the operation to perfection--from a remote workstation.