Robotic surgery to attack cancerous tissues

New Delhi: An estimated 3 million people require treatment for cancer at a given point of time in India.

There is good news for those who dread surgeries, though.

A robotic radio surgery system designed to treat tumours in any part of the body, termed as Cyberknife has come as a relief to sufferers.

The Cyberknife as it is called, is an image-guided robotic device that delivers a high dose of radiation accurately on to the tumours without affecting surrounding healthy tissues

Romesh Kaul, President, Advanced Medical Systems Private Limited said, “We are able to give a much higher dose, which means faster treatment in a shorter time and more accurately, with less side effects.”

For the patient, this also means no scars as there is no incision. It cuts the hospital stay and there is no physical trauma as compared to other treatment procedures.

Prathap C Reddy, Executive Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group says there are lesser side effects, if any at all.

“Because of the way this locks in the tumour and moves along with the tumour, the other side effects affecting the normal tissue are not there. If at all, it's very minimal.”

For patients suffering from prostrate cancer, trigeminal neuralgia and paediatric cancer like diseases, this radio-surgery might come as a blessing.

The flip side of course is that the treatment is available in only Chennai now and could cost you a whopping rupees four lakh.

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