SS Innovations, incubated in AP’s medtech zone, unveils robotic surgery system

S S Innovations, incubated at the Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone (AMTZ) in Visakhapatanam, has come up with South Asia's first medical robotics surgery system, which would cost less than a third of what imported systems cost.

Called SSI Mantra (Multi-Arm Novel Tele Robotic Assistance), the system, tested on 18 procedures in clinical trials at New Delhi's Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, is capable of carrying out surgeries in all major surgical specialities including urology, general surgery, gynaecology, thoracic, cardiac and head and neck surgeries.

The company demonstrated the robotic surgery system to the public for the first time on Tuesday.

"While similar imported systems cost Rs 16 to Rs 18 crore, SSI Mantra would be priced at Rs 4-5 crore, making it affordable for a large number of hospitals in the country. Though robotic surgery systems have been around for nearly three decades, 93 per cent of them are used in the US, Europe and Japan. There are only 72 such systems installed in Indian hospitals," said SSI founder, Sudhir Srivastava, a surgeon who had done over 1,400 robotic cardiac surgeries in the US, before returning to India in 2011.

According to Srivastava, his ambition was to develop an indigenous system, which is not just affordable but as efficient as the best such systems available elsewhere. He hoped that at this pricing, most 100 to 150-bed hospitals in the country would be able to have such robotic surgery machines. The firm has so far invested Rs 300 crore and is expected to raise investment worth Rs 700 crore to Rs 1,000 crore soon for setting up manufacturing, assembly, infrastructure and clinical support for the global launch of the product.

The firm, which already has expressions of interest for 85 machines, hopes to roll out the first indigenous robotic system in the next six months.

According to Vishwajyoti Srivastava, President and COO of SSI, the system has been designed and developed by a team of 90 young engineers, a majority of them from India. More than 60 per cent of the materials used in the system have been sourced locally, barring some sophisticated instruments that have been imported from countries such as Germany and Switzerland.