New Robotic-Assisted Surgery Offers Inspiring Hope for Rwanda

An artist’s impression of the completed Centre of Excellence in Kigali. The center supported by IRCAD is expected to assist with the training of surgeons throughout the continent with minimally invasive surgery training. Credit: SuppliedBy Aimable TwahirwaKIGALI, Nov 13 2023 (IPS) In a newly established Centre of Excellence located in Masaka, a suburb of the Rwandan capital city, Kigali, an expanded lab, complete with innovative facilities and specialized instruments, is now giving surgeons a conducive environment to simulate how to perform minimally invasive surgeries. French-based Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System (IRCAD) played a major part in this initiative, the first ever on the African continent. According to medical experts, in comparison to traditional open surgery, often requiring the patient to incur invasive large incisions, minimally invasive surgery procedures allow doctors to insert a camera through a small incision, or sometimes no incision at all. Dr Alexandre Hostettler, head of the Surgical Data Science Team at IRCAD, pointed out that harnessing robotic and artificial intelligence is critical to enhance the capability of surgical treatment in Africa. Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery denotes the surgical technique where the robot-applied laparoscopic tools are remotely controlled by a human operator at a console. “Performing surgeries using robotic assistance can be more comfortable for surgeons, as they can sit at a ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Featured Health Innovation TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Rwanda Source Type: news