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.

Imagine a future where a wide range of surgeries, no matter how complex, could be conducted remotely, a future where a patient in dire need of help could access the most highly regarded specialists in any area of medicine regardless of where on the globe that person may be. In 2019, Dr. Ryan Madder from Spectrum Health performed a series of simulated remote percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) via a control station outside of Boston. The robotic devices he was manipulating were in New York City and San Francisco. The robots successfully performed the procedure, which involves a catheter being used to place a small structure called a stent to open blood vessels in the heart that have been narrowed by plaque buildup, a condition known as atherosclerosis. A year earlier, Dr. Tejas Patel completed the first-in-human remote PCI cases in India, with about 20 miles between the physician and his patients.

Robots are used in a variety of surgical procedures these days, but the brain has largely been a no-go zone for robot assistants in the OR. With the successful completion of an in-human robotic-assisted neurovascular intervention this month, that's set to change. The surgery was led by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira, a neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist at the Toronto Western Hospital and Krembil Brain Institute in Canada. Dr. Pereira's team utilized a vascular robotic device developed by Corindus. "The field of neurovascular intervention is changing rapidly, but there remains a significant need to expand access to care and reduce treatment times," said Mark Toland, CEO of Corindus.

A doctor in India has performed a series of five percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures on patients who were 20 miles away from him. The feat was pulled off using a precision vascular robot developed by Corindus. The results of the surgeries, which were successful, have just been published in EClinicalMedicine, a spin-off of medical journal The Lancet. The feat is an example of telemedicine, an emerging field that leverages advances in networking, robotics, mixed reality, and communications technologies to beam in medical experts to remote locations for everything from consultations to surgical procedures. Telemedicine, which could decentralize healthcare by distributing doctors into local communities virtually, could ease shortages of nurses and doctors and potentially cut healthcare costs.

A doctor in India has performed a series of five percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures on patients who were 20 miles away from him. The feat was pulled off using a precision vascular robot developed by Corindus. The results of the surgeries, which were successful, have just been published in EClinicalMedicine, a spin-off of medical journal The Lancet. The feat is an example of telemedicine, an emerging field that leverages advances in networking, robotics, mixed reality, and communications technologies to beam in medical experts to remote locations for everything from consultations to surgical procedures. Telemedicine, which could decentralize healthcare by distributing doctors into local communities virtually, could ease shortages of nurses and doctors and potentially cut healthcare costs.

You're a patient about to undergo heart surgery, but the surgeon performing the procedure hasn't turned up at the hospital and, in fact, is still 20 miles away at the time that the operation is due to be carried out. Not at all, if it's anything like a recently reported world's-first procedure carried out by a surgeon in India. Using a robot called the CorPath GRX, created by a company named Corindus, five patients were the recipients of the first remote. The robot was controlled using a workstation with multiple joysticks, which allowed the surgeon to control the robot in real time while getting visual feedback in the form of livestreaming video showing what it was seeing. The procedure performed was something called (PCI), in which a small structure called a stent is used to open blood vessels in the heart that have been narrowed by plaque buildup.

You're a patient about to undergo heart surgery, but the surgeon performing the procedure hasn't turned up at the hospital and, in fact, is still 20 miles away at the time that the operation is due to be carried out. Not at all, if it's anything like a recently reported world's-first procedure carried out by a surgeon in India. Using a robot called the CorPath GRX, created by a company named Corindus, five patients were the recipients of the first remote. The robot was controlled using a workstation with multiple joysticks, which allowed the surgeon to control the robot in real time while getting visual feedback in the form of livestreaming video showing what it was seeing. The procedure performed was something called (PCI), in which a small structure called a stent is used to open blood vessels in the heart that have been narrowed by plaque buildup.