Calicut (Kerala) [India], August 4: Meitra Hospital Kozhikode, one of South India’s most advanced quaternary care hospitals, takes a mega step forward towards introducing advanced, innovative, and cutting-edge technology to ensure faster and complete recovery of patients requiring joint replacement surgeries by introducing, for the first time in South Asia, the Smith & Nephew CORI robot-assisted surgical system. The launch of this state of art technology today in the presence of Cine Superstar Padmashree Bharath Mammootty as the Chief Guest, Faizal  Kottikollon, Chairman, Meitra Hospital, Dr. Ali Faizal, Director, Meitra Hospital & Senior Consultant – Department of Cardiology, Meitra Hospital, Dr. George Abraham – Chairman, Centre of Bone and Joint Care, Meitra Hospital and Dr. Sameer Ali Paravath – Consultant and Head – Joint Replacement and Arthroscopy, Meitra Hospital.

The innovative robotic joint replacement technology takes a giant leap in ensuring probably the best possible clinical outcome for patients wherein the surgeries can be done with ultimate precision and accuracy, minimal blood, tissue, and bone loss, minimal pain and post-surgery trauma for patients and most important & significantly a quicker post-surgery recovery period for the patients thereby robot-assisted joint replacement surgeries will prove to be a boon for patients in India and in Kerala particularly.

The advanced and innovative technology used by robotic surgical tools helps the surgeons devise a customised plan based on the uniqueness of the case and the patient’s anatomy using a 3-D digital real-time model of the joint and then perform the joint replacement surgery including total and partial knee replacements with greater precision and accuracy. The 3D view helps the surgeon assess and finalise the best choice of implant required for the patient to ensure faster recovery with minimal blood, tissue, and bone loss. Thereby it will ensure a more natural feel and movement of your joint with better longevity and survival of your implant than conventional surgeries or other types of computer-assisted surgeries.

The addition of CORI-Robotic Joint Replacement Surgical System makes Meitra’s CoE of Bone & Joint Care a fully equipped center to conduct all kinds of Total or Partial Knee and Hip Replacement surgeries thus, making Meitra Hospital the first and only training center for conducting Robotic Arthroplasty (Joint Replacement Surgery) in India.

“As clinical experts, our duties are not limited to only diagnosing a disorder and treating it. We invest a lot of our efforts in understanding the latest technologies in medical science that can help ease a patient’s pain and our efforts to cure them with minimal damage. Joint replacement surgeries using robot-assisted technologies and surgical tools have made the process more accurate and help us plan these surgeries. I am happy that Meitra Hospital has taken the initiative to launch a dedicated facility for Robot-assisted joint replacement surgeries and I am sure that this will help patients recover faster with reduced pain, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stay,” said Dr. George Abraham, Chairman – Bone and Joint Care, Meitra Hospital.

Citing the necessity of adapting robot-assisted joint replacement surgeries, Dr. Sameer Ali Paravath, Consultant and Head – Joint Replacement and Arthroscopy, Meitra Hospital explained, “The traditional methods of joint replacement surgeries, namely the pre-surgery planning methods such as CT scan and MRIs only gave an understanding of the problems in the joints, however, with robot-assisted surgical tools, we have taken a step forward. Since each patient and their anatomies are unique, we cannot use the same methods of surgery on everyone. With robot-assisted surgical tools like CORI Surgical System, we, now can plan the surgery and make the cuts and implant placement with 100% precision and accuracy. These tools ensure that the patients recover and regain normalcy in their lives faster than usual.”

Expressing his delight on the launch of the specialised section of Robot-assisted Joint Replacement Surgery Department at the hospital, Mr. Faizal E Kottikollon, Chairman – Meitra Hospital shared, “Meitra Hospital has always been on the forefront of adopting cutting-edge technologies and delivering high-quality clinical services and uncompromised patient care. Our scientifically augmented infrastructure, state-of-the-art facilities backed by expert teams of doctors have earned us innumerable laurels since our inception. Robot-assisted surgeries have given a new dimension to curing patients and ensuring optimum level of healthcare services delivered to our patients who can now walk out of the hospital with relatively lesser damage post-surgery and heal faster than usual. Having the best robotic surgical tools such as CORI has only helped us yield the best results during such complicated surgeries.”

“Using traditional methods during joint replacement surgeries is no longer an option considering the advancements and innovations in medical technology. Robot-assisted technologies such as CORI Surgical Systems help our doctors diagnose a health problem and pre-plan a surgery, thus providing consistent and predictable results of the efforts and skillsets of both the surgeon and the accuracy of the technology used. The department is an example of our efforts to ensure safety and complete recovery from problems for our patients and we will continue to introduce such innovative technologies at our hospital that would be ably backed by highly trained doctors and state-of-the-art infrastructure,” remarked Dr. Ali Faizal, Director & Senior Consultant – Cardiology, Meitra Hospital.

The Centre of Excellence for Bone and Joint Care at Meitra Hospital, recently, earned recognition from the National Board of Examinations and being awarded the prestigious training programs of FNB Arthroplasty and FNB Spine Surgery.

Meitra Hospital is a 220-bed quaternary care facility spread across a 4.5 million square feet area in the lush greens of Kerala. Established with a vision of creating the best healthcare delivery system in India, the inception of Meitra Hospital was a culmination of collaboration of industry leaders across the world- Patient-Centric Design in collaboration with TAHPI Australia, Superior Hospital Infrastructure manufactured at KEF Holdings’ Offsite Manufacturing Facility, and Care-Path Model developed under the advice of Cleveland Clinic physicians.

In a short span of three years, its six centres of excellence- Heart and Vascular Care, Neurosciences, Bone and Joint care, Gastro Sciences, Kidney Health & Transplantation, Blood Disorders, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cancer Immunotherapy -have established themselves as amongst the best in South India.

The hospital is completely paperless, utilizes a unit dose drug delivery system, and has implemented clinical pathways for key specialties. It has 7 state-of-the-art operation theatres, South India’s first robotic hybrid Cath Lab and 52 one-of-its-kind individualized ICU cubicles. Other medical technologies include a 3-tesla state-of-the-art, cutting edge MRI machine; a 128-slice CT Scan, an O-Arm, tele-ICUs, and many more advanced technologies which will be introduced shortly.