Fast emerging robotic surgery may soon enable surgeons in one part of the world to perform surgeries at distant places without being physically present there, a leading US scientist has said. The surgery involves duplication of surgical movements of surgeons. A telescope relays the area being operated on a television screen, which is watched by the surgeon. The surgeon performs surgical movements on the picture, sitting at a distance, which are duplicated into the movements of the robot. Robotic surgery is more precise and allows greater degree of freedom for wrists. It also allows tremor-free operations,Dr Inderbir S Gill of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation said in New Delhi on Friday. Gill is in New Delhi to participate in a three-day millennium international urology congress, being organised by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “The technique would be of specific help in cases where a patient insists on being operated by a particular surgeon,” Gill said. “However, the surgery is much more expensive,” he said. The robotic systems in US cost between 500,000 to one million dollars. “Efforts should be made to improve robotic instruments, bring down the costs and improve the telecommunications links,” Gill added. “Robotic arms have already been used to perform surgeries like coronory artery bypass, nephrectomy, removal of lymph nodes and prostate surgery in humans. Work is in progress to perform aortic surgery on pigs,” he said. Bureau Report