Apollo Hospitals demonstrates use of Medtronic's RAS system in surgery

Apollo Hospitals, one of the biggest hospital chains in India, and Irish medical device maker Medtronic has partnered to demonstrate the first use case of the latter's robotics-assisted surgery system in Asia-Pacific.

Medtronic's Hugo RAS system is a modular, multi-quadrant platform for soft-tissue procedures. It features wristed instruments, 3D visualisation and a cloud-based surgical video capture and management solution called Touch Surgery Enterprise, combined with dedicated support teams specialising in robotics programme optimisation, service and training.

RAS, a form of minimally invasive surgery, can potentially contribute to reducing patient's hospital stay, minimising surgery complications and scars. 

Dr N Ragavan, who recently conducted a robotic prostatectomy using the Medtronic device, noted that nearly 70% of surgeries in India are performed as open procedures. "We feel confident that the Hugo RAS system will enable us to change that statistic and bring the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to more patients than ever before," the consultant urologist, uro-oncologist and robotic surgeon at Apollo Hospitals added.

"The addition of the Hugo RAS system to our robotic surgery program — and our place in history as the first hospital in Asia-Pacific to use this new technology — reinforces that dedication and the pride we at Apollo Hospitals have as a premier destination for minimally invasive surgery. This technology will complement the excellent clinical expertise garnered by our physicians over the years and is designed to help us enhance patient care," said Dr Prathap C. Reddy, founder and chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group. 

The Hugo RAS system, first used in urologic and gynecologic procedures in Latin America early in the year, has pending CE mark approval in Europe; it has been designated in the US as a not-for-sale investigational device.

Fujitsu announces new healthcare industry appointments in Australia and New Zealand

Japanese ICT service provider Fujitsu has made new appointments in its healthcare business in Australia and New Zealand.

According to a press statement, the company has appointed Ian Manovel as head of Health Industry and Anthony Wang as director of Digital Transformation in Health.

"These strategic appointments demonstrate Fujitsu’s commitment to driving positive transformative change in a sector that is under unprecedented pressure," said Graeme Beardsell, CEO of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand. 

Manovel will lead Fujitsu's expansion in the region's health sector by handling strategy, transformation agenda, sales growth and customer service management. He has three decades of experience in the sector, including 12 years as a pharmacist in Australia and the UK. Most recently, he worked as a government and healthcare consulting partner for DXC Technology. He had also been employed by Accenture, NPS MedicineWise and Bupa.

Commenting on his new role, Manovel said: "I am focused on finding new ways to drive healthcare innovation using digital technologies to achieve the best possible health outcomes. I look forward to working with Fujitsu’s customers on purposeful innovation and transformation that will help to shape the future of healthcare delivery across Australia and New Zealand."

Meanwhile, Wang is bringing over two decades of experience in enterprise IT strategy development and delivery. Previously, he was chief technology officer at Ramsay Health Care where he led large-scale digital initiatives, including the first doctor-based mobile application to access the government's My Health Record and the first digital patient flow program in Australian private hospitals. He had held roles at AMP Financial Services, Optus and Accenture.

Together with Fujitsu, Wang intends to address the perceived challenges of transforming the health sector into a patient-centric, technology-enabled space. "I am looking forward to harvesting the power of AI, machine learning, quantum computing, analytics, and internet-of-medical-things to solve those challenges currently in the too-hard basket," he said.

More pathology labs connect to My Health Record

Pathology labs in Queensland, northern New South Wales and Tasmania have started uploading patient reports to the government's My Health Record system.

The Australian Digital Health Agency said QML Pathology, IQ Pathology and TML Pathology are now sharing reports with consumers and healthcare providers in the digital health record platform.

More than 500 QML collection centres in Queensland and northern NSW and 22 TML collection centres in Tasmania are sending reports to My Health Record, according to QML Pathology General Manager Kerri McPhie. 

These connections follow the recent delivery of reports from Laverty Pathology, a subsidiary of Healius Pathology, to the government platform.

As of late, pathology labs across Australia are remitting over 1.6 million reports each week to My Health Record.