With the launch of the first robotic surgery unit at a hospital on March 1, patients of the northeast will not have to travel to other parts of the country or abroad for undergoing the advanced procedure, an Assam minister said.

The first of its kind in the northeastern region, the robotic surgery unit was launched at a private hospital. Officially launching the Versius Robot and Robotic Operation Theatre in the hospital, Assam Minister of State for Health said, it will provide high value services to society in terms of medical care. People in the state and the region can remain in the comforts of a known environment without having to go to other parts of the country or abroad, he said.

He lauded the efforts of Dr Subhash Khanna, the chief medical director of the Swagat Group of Hospitals, for taking the initiative to introduce robotic surgery in the hospital that would benefit people of the northeastern region. Vice Chancellor of Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences Dr Dipika Deka said, robotic surgery will revolutionise surgery as through the new procedure, more difficult surgeries can be done as compared to laproscopic surgery. "It will be a boon to patients as they will have speedier recovery rate than conventional procedures," the VC said.

Explaining the procedure, Dr Khanna said the newly introduced Verius surgical robot "In a true sense is a surgeon's and patient's friend as it not only mimics the dexterity and range of movements of a surgeon's hand and wrist, but with its extended probes and endoscopes, provides easy and safe access to the most complicated and minute regions of the human body where a surgeon's hand cannot reach." On the cost of the procedure, Dr Khanna said it would be around Rs 5.50 lakh.