SMART Surgicol offers Pakistani surgeons with dynamic training solutions to improve their surgical skills, for laparoscopic surgery. With the introduction of Minimal Invasive Surgery (MIS) in Pakistan, the need for providing training to surgeons in this sophisticated surgery technique was widely felt. However, training system imported from abroad are extremely costly which makes its procurement and usage impossible for most teaching hospitals.
Therefore, developing these systems locally at substantially reduced cost and making these available for hospitals in Pakistan is a vital need. In order to overcome this issue, SMART SurgiSol has developed a low cost Smart SIM Virtual Reality (VR) Simulator that trains surgeons for conventional laparoscopy which offers the prime advantages of reduced trauma, faster recovery and lesser blood loss – in comparison to open surgery. Based on open source software tools and libraries and leveraging of the relatively cheap local manpower cost, the product developed and offered by SMART Surgicol is ten times more inexpensive than the alternates.
Since, the commencement of project in 2011, response from surgeons across the country has been very encouraging with three hospitals lining up for implementation. At the launch ceremony of the product in November 2013 during the International Surgical Conference, many international surgeons also appreciated the effort of developing such a cost effective solution. Moreover, Society of Laparoscopic & Endoscopic Surgeons (SOLES) of Pakistan has also endorsed the simulator.
The contribution of this initiative improved patient care and development of the Pakistani healthcare industry is truly impressive.