Andhra Pradesh runs two-way tele-robotic surgeries

Two medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh say they have completed India’s first two-way tele-robotic surgeries, linking Rajamahendravaram and Nellore for live operations across cities. (thehansindia.com) The hospitals were GSL Medical College Hospital in Rajamahendravaram and Narayana Medical College Hospital in Nellore. The surgeries were carried out on Saturday, according to The Hans India. (thehansindia.com) A team led by Dr. Samir Ranjan Nayak in Rajamahendravaram operated on patients in Nellore. The reported cases included a gallbladder removal and a hernia procedure. (thehansindia.com) (researchid.co) Tele-robotic surgery works by turning a surgeon’s hand movements at one console into movements by robotic instruments beside a patient in another operating room. The setup depends on cameras, robotic arms and a fast enough network to keep delay low. (theprint.in) (visionias.in) India’s recent telesurgery rollout has centered on the SSI Mantra platform, an Indian robotic surgery system made by SS Innovations. Company materials say the system is approved for telesurgery and tele-proctoring in India. (ssinnovations.com 1) (ssinnovations.com 2) That matters because Andhra Pradesh had already logged a separate telesurgery milestone in August 2025, when Medicover Hospital in Vizianagaram said a gallbladder operation was performed from Gurgaon, nearly 2,000 kilometers away. The new cases shift from a one-way remote operation to a two-institution link between medical colleges inside the state. (aninews.in) (thehansindia.com) SS Innovations has also said its platform completed cardiac telesurgeries over 286 kilometers with 40-millisecond latency, a measure of signal delay. Low delay is critical because even small lags can affect how precisely a surgeon moves instruments. (visionias.in) (ssinnovations.com) The Andhra Pradesh cases point to a use beyond headline demos: letting one hospital’s specialist operate or guide another hospital’s team without moving the patient. For medical colleges, the same link can also be used for training, mentoring and supervision during complex cases. (ssinnovations.com 1) (ssinnovations.com 2) For now, the public reporting is thin on patient outcomes, operating times and the exact network setup used between Rajamahendravaram and Nellore. But the two named procedures and the two-hospital link make this a concrete test of remote surgery moving into routine institutional use. (thehansindia.com)