REVO

“Uzbekistan and South Korea expect mutual development with expanded exchange of robotic surgery techniques"

Interview with Doctor Zarifkhoja Bakhadirkhanov, the leader of introduction of the first robotic surgery in Uzbekistan

"Revo-i," is a domestic surgical robot that was originally developed by meerecompany with purely domestic technology and is currently growing its occupancy in the global market. It is strengthening its presence both domestically and overseas. For example, the Celebration Symposium of 40,000 Robotic Surgeries at Severance Hospital-Joint Symposium by the Urological Research Society was held from January 12th to 13th, and clinical cases using Revo-i were presented at the symposium.

In particular, doctor Zarifkhoja Bakhadirkhanov from Uzbekistan attended and provided a presentation about his clinical experience and know-how with Revo-i for domestic and foreign surgeons, drawing a great attention. Using this symposium as a stepping stone, doctor BaKhadirkhanov expected that the exchange of robotic surgery techniques between South Korea and Uzbekistan surgeons will grow more active.

On the day of the symposium, surgeons from the African region as well as surgeons from major national hospitals, including domestic robotic surgery leader Severance hospital, attended and showed great interest in Revo-i. Such interest was reflected by many questions about Revo-i during the symposium. The Korean surgeons expected the possibility of the surgical robot that was developed with purely domestic technology and also hoped for wide distribution in the clinical settings. We met Doctor Bakhadirkhanov and asked about the cause that led him to giving a presentation in this symposium, as well as his opinion on the direction of future development of Revo-i in the global market. Doctor Bakhadirkhanov said Revo-i already offers competitiveness in terms of performance that is also constantly improving, emphasizing that it will have greater influence in the global market when it is combined with the benefit of a reasonable price, too.

Q: Has interest in robotic surgery risen in the Central Asia region?

A: I visited many countries near Uzbekistan and frequently talked about robotic surgery. Most of the countries are in a situation similar to what Uzbekistan was previously facing, so they showed great interest in robotic surgery and Revo-i.

Specifically, I visited Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in Central Asia and also visited Türkiye that is near our country, providing lectures about robotic surgery.

People were particularly curious about how a surgical robot can be introduced and how it is currently successfully being applied. In this regard, I also told them the current situation in Uzbekistan, including the introduction of the second surgical robot.

Q: I see. I heard that you provided a presentation in the Celebration Symposium of 40,000 Robotic Surgeries at Severance Hospital-Joint Symposium by the Urological Research Society. How did you come to attend the symposium?

A: About 4 months ago, there was a special event held in Uzbekistan where surgeons from South Korea, the U.S., and Russia were invited. Experience and know-how in regard to robotic surgery were shared among the 4 countries.

In this event, we reviewed current information on introduction of Revo-i and observed an actual surgery case. Professor Jongsoo Lee from Severance Hospital and Professor Tae Hyo Kim from the Dong-a University Hospital were invited to the event. In this symposium held in Severance Hospital, they invited me back, so I attended the symposium.

40,000 cases of robotic surgery is a huge achievement, and I, as one of the surgeons performing robotic surgery, have a good understanding about how difficult and valuable it is. Congratulations to Severance Hospital on the achievement of 40,000 cases of robotic surgery for the first time across the globe.

Q: Alright. To my knowledge, it's the first time you visited Severance Hospital. How does it feel?

A: I'm really excited and glad that I visited Severance Hospital, a world renowned, high-quality hospital. It has the greatest scale of a hospital I've ever seen. I remember reading some data that more than 1,000 doctors work there and more than 9,000 patients visit it every day. These are really surprising statistics.

And I also felt that the hospital is different in that it has a systematic mentoring system and many great teachers. Uzbekistan is just at the starting phase of implementing robotic surgery, so it does not yet have many surgeons with sufficient experience in robotic surgery.

My team is the first robotic surgery expert team across the Central Asia region, and we are facing many situations in which we had to learn things on our own. In that context, we mainly use videos for studying surgery techniques. I myself am also still growing by considering foreign surgeons as my mentors, but the situation in South Korea is different. There are many robotic surgery surgeons who are available for communication in real time, even in the middle of surgery. So, I want to use my attendance at this symposium as an opportunity for expanded cooperation with Korean surgeons and mutual development.

Q: Good. In the presentation you gave in the symposium, what was your main message?

A: In my presentation, I put emphasis on the fact that about 140 cumulative cases of surgery were performed in Uzbekistan and the efforts of our team that made it happen. Also, I focused on sharing the news that the second surgical robot is going to be installed in Samarkand since this new medical technology has been actively accepted and spread lately.

I think we've been making various achievements for 15 months after the introduction of Revo-i. Firstly, we are actively organizing symposiums to increase interest in robotic surgery.

One example is the symposium that was held in partnership with ESU (European School of Urology) in October. It included a session of live surgery using Revo-i, and it was successfully completed with 300 medical professionals in urology from Europe and Uzbekistan attending.

Additionally, we are serving as a training hub for nearby countries. For example, 10 medical professionals from Tatarstan visited us and received training about robotic surgery.

Q: I see. After your presentation, what questions did you receive from Korean medical professionals and what answers did you give?

A: The first question was whether I perform radical cystoprostatectomy by using only the robot or I switch to an open surgery.

I perform the surgery by using just the robot. I believe the intention of the question was to figure out whether a high-difficulty urological surgery can be adequately performed with Revo-i. My answer was that I'm actually doing high-difficulty surgeries with no problem, thanks to the performance and stability of Revo-i.

Q: Okay. I think this symposium will be the starting point of information exchange between medical professionals from South Korea and Uzbekistan. What is your plan to promote this exchange?

A: More exchange is necessary. My short-term and long-term goals are spreading robotic surgery throughout Uzbekistan. Accordingly, I'm expecting that 2 to 3 additional surgical robots are going to be introduced within this year. To achieve this, a great deal of help from Korean surgeons will be needed. Particularly, we will hold many training workshops in local areas, including Tashkent, Samarkand, and Andijan, to which I'm planning to invite Korean surgeons.

Q: I see. What has changed in the medical field of Uzbekistan after the introduction of Revo-i compared to before?

A: Everything. My thoughts and life as a surgeon also changed. Uzbekistan is 15 to 20 years behind South Korea in terms of robotic surgery. That's why I'm committing all my efforts to promoting robotic surgery now.

The Minister of Health of Uzbekistan is also showing interest in the introduction of surgical robots and providing support. There is a government program that is currently under development to additionally introduce surgical robots.

Q: That's good news. Do you have any other plans on symposiums or activities in the U.S. or Europe?

A: To be honest, I realized the status of South Korea for the first time by attending this symposium in celebration of 40,000 cases. Beforehand, I didn't know that so many cases of robotic surgery are being performed in South Korea. Of course, Europe and U.S. have distributed robotic surgery quite early and have many famous surgeons as well. However, at this phase, I'm going to strengthen the cooperative relationship with Korean surgeons. I'll also invite Korean surgeons to symposiums in Uzbekistan for more information exchanges with them.

Q: I see. How fast is the number of surgery cases using Revo-i increasing in Uzbekistan?

A: 100 cases of robotic surgery using Revo-i were achieved in 10 months, which is a relatively quite a short time. I believe it was possible because the Uzbekistan government showed a great interest as well. The government is keeping an eye on how greatly the introduction of robotic surgery affects our people.

Uzbekistan has been suffering from a serious problem of patient leakage to India, Türkiye, China, U.S., and so on since they are going to those countries to get the most advanced treatment. Now, with the introduction of Revo-i that enables robotic surgery within our own country, I believe the problem will gradually be resolved.

Q: Alright. Could you give advice to meerecompany to help them stand out as the center of the global surgical robot market in the future?

A: I think Revo-i already offers competitiveness in terms of performance. What's more, it's continuously improving. If it is combined with the benefit of a reasonable price, I believe it will hold greater influence in the global market.

article : https://www.whosaeng.com/150232