Interview/ Dr Sudhir Prem Srivastava, founder-chairman and CEO of SS Innovations
Dr Sudhir Prem Srivastava got his medical degree from J.L.N. Medical College in Ajmer before completing his residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In 2003, with 10 physicians, he founded Alliance Hospital, a center of excellence in cardiovascular disease in West Texas. While there, he performed the world’s first single-vessel TECAB (totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass) on a beating heart. After returning to India, he has introduced a made-in-India brand of medical robotics surgery equipment. In an interview, he speaks about the development of the indigenous system.
What was the market analysis that went into understanding and defining the product?
Since the time the world was introduced to robotic surgeries, they have been considered only for the elite class because of the high cost of procurement of a surgical robotic system by a hospital. This explains the low penetration levels in India.
When I first returned to India, there was only one brand of surgical robots which was selling in the country. The high capital cost of the surgical robot was dictated by the monopolistic advantage the manufacturer enjoyed. High cost of the system translates to high procedural cost. This propelled my mission, in 2012, to develop a system that will not only be different, but also loaded with better features, more applications and yet be cost-effective. This took me on a journey to change the direction of surgery by creating a surgical robotic system that will be affordable not only in India, but also in many other economies.
The SSi Mantra is India’s first and only indigenously developed surgical robotic system. It is loaded with unique features for the price at which it is pegged.
When did the research phase begin and how long did it take?
The journey to create the SSi Mantra began in 2014, and after an extensive five-and-a-half-year endeavour, the system was successfully introduced to the commercial market. However, given the continuous evolution in the surgical field, our research and development remain ongoing to incorporate the latest of technologies to help surgeons perform the most complex surgeries with ease and achieve improved clinical outcomes. We are committed to continuous technological improvement, constantly exploring avenues, especially in relation to integrating AI, and devising strategies to make it even more advanced and user-friendly.
What percentage of the components are Indian? What are the possibilities?
Some 85-90 per cent of the components are Indian.
SSi Mantra has been installed at the Aster Hospital, Dubai, and now at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University’s campus in Baltimore, in the US. Under the terms of the agreement with Johns Hopkins University, we installed one system at the MISTIC (Minimally Invasive Surgical Training and Innovation Center). SS Innovations and the MISTIC team will share the benefits of these combined research activities.
This is just the beginning. There is a world of opportunities waiting out there, among like-minded health care professionals who mirror SS Innovations’ vision of taking qualitative surgical health care to the underserved population and putting it within reach of the common man.
Talk us through the roadblocks you hit during the research and development.
The development of the surgical robotic system was not easy. The first system that I developed was entirely funded by me from my personal savings. I reached a point where I had to sell off everything, even my furniture, to fund the development of the system as funding was not coming through. A team of 150 professionals have put in their effort to bring SSi Mantra to life. It is a prime illustration of India’s technical leadership in the medical device industry.
How does a layman best understand the product and its benefits?
It is said ‘seeing is believing’. Across the length and breadth of the country, stories of laymen who have been benefitted by surgeries conducted using the SSi Mantra are numerous. A case in point is from Moradabad. A patient named Jameeluddin had been suffering for more than 10 years and was not even able to digest a glass of water. The only solution was to dissect a particular layer of a muscle of the oesophagus. In view of the level of precision required, robotic surgery using SSi Mantra was suggested to him. The procedure was conducted flawlessly. The patient received excellent results and was up on his feet within a few days.