Bengaluru's Dr Sandeep Nayak among top 3 winners of global robotic surgery competition

Director of Surgical Oncology at Fortis Cancer Institute, Dr Sandeep Nayak, received the second honour for his "Robotic Infraclavicular Approach for Minimally Invasive Neck Dissection."

Bengaluru's Dr Sandeep Nayak was one of three surgeons from India, the United States, and Spain, who won first place in the 'KS International Robotic Surgery Innovation competition' organised by Michigan-based Robotic Surgery evangelist Vattikuti Foundation. 

The three winners were chosen from 100 global entries in the specialities of Urology, Gynecology, General Surgery, Hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery, Colorectal, Head & Neck, Paediatric, Cardiothoracic, and joint replacement surgery.

The second award went to Dr Nayak, Director of Surgical Oncology at Fortis Cancer Institute, for his 'Robotic Infraclavicular Approach for Minimally Invasive Neck Dissection.'

"Dr Nayak invented a robotic technique to perform major cancer surgery of the head and neck to clear the lymph nodes in the neck with quick patient recovery and minimal discomfort," the Foundation stated on Tuesday.

The winning entry, 'Single Port Robot-Assisted Kidney Transplantation Extraperitoneal Approach' by Dr Jihad Kaouk, Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, was judged worthy of the first award.

The third award went to a team of Dr Alberto Piana, Dr Paolo Verri, and Dr Alberto Breda of Oncology Urology and Kidney Transplant Surgery, Fundacio Puigvert, Barcelona, Spain, for their entry in '3-D Augmented Reality Guided Robotic Assisted Kidney Transplantation.

According to Raj Vattikuti, president of the Vattikuti Foundation, "When surgeons continue to create newer methods in robotic surgery, the Vattikuti Foundation will continue to invest and make it accessible to other surgeons."

The Foundation's charter encourages excellence in robotic surgery by facilitating specialist surgeons' training to become accomplished robotic surgeons.

(With inputs from PTI)