Balance needed between doctors, tech for best care: IT minister

Madurai: Robotics in the field of medicine has advanced considerably, and there is a need for doctors' expertise and robotic and AI tech in medicine to be balanced and complemented to provide the best care and treatment for patients, state IT minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said on Sunday.
Addressing the launch of an advanced robot exclusively for performing joint replacement surgery by a private hospital in Madurai, Thiaga Rajan said, "Today, in manufacturing and assembly, the world has shifted from 90% human labour and 10% automation to 90% automation and 10% human labour. In medical technology as well, robots have improved efficiency. In this age of big data and AI, the amount of information that can be used to provide insight for medical treatment is amazing." He added that AI has been found to deliver better results than human doctors when trained, but at the end of the day, it needs to be balanced with a human doctor taking responsibility.
The minister welcomed the launch of an advanced robot in a city like Madurai and pointed out that Madurai is a huge destination for medical tourism. "Hence, definitely, easy accessibility is an important need. When I was the finance minister in 2023, I met the then minister for civil aviation and made requests for accelerating the expansion of Madurai airport and declaring international status and more. Though it's not strictly in my portfolio now, I will continue my efforts," he said.
Dr Kunal Dheep, consultant orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeon at Taj Orthopaedic Research Centre (TORC Ortho Care), spoke about the features of the newly launched advanced robotic joint replacement system imported from the US at around 4 crore.
"The robotic tech offers more precision and efficiency, and the surgery, which usually takes an hour, can be done in 40 minutes. An important aspect is it reduces blood loss while balancing the knee. It also lessens post-operative pain, scarring, and rehabilitation time for patients. We have completed 15 surgeries," he said.
He added that though the cost is 50,000 more than regular surgery, the hospital is offering to provide the treatment with no extra cost apart from the cost of regular surgery for the first 100 patients.