New Delhi, Apr 25 (IANS): The US-based Vattikuti Foundation, known for preparing a pool of over 500 specialist surgeons from India to become accomplished robotic surgeons, has opened entries to the 2023 edition of its global competition.

Called ‘The KS International Innovation Robotic Surgery Awards,' the programme helps discover new surgical talent and uncover cutting-edge procedures through instructional robotic surgery videos.

The prize-winning surgeons will receive $10,000, $3,000, and $2,000 as first, second and third cash prize, along with an invitation to present at the ‘Humans at the Cutting Edge of Robotic surgery' symposium by the Vattikuti Foundation and Orsi Academy, in Ghent, Belgium on October 7-8.

The competition honours Krishnaswami Subramaniam (KS), the CEO of Vattikuti Technologies, who was responsible for growing the installed base of surgical robots from five to 25 in less than five years across 15 Indian cities when he passed away in 2015.

"Subramanian's work helped usher in an era in the Indian healthcare sector in which surgical robots became the best tool in the hands of surgeons, resulting in better outcomes and faster recoveries in surgeries from multiple specialities," said Dr Mahendra Bhandari, CEO, Vattikuti Foundation.

The competition is judged by an international jury of robotic surgeons as well as crowd voting by thousands of surgeons globally.

The instructional video entries for the competition can be submitted on Vattikuti Foundation website until June 15.

In addition, surgeons demonstrating superior surgical outcomes through their entries will be invited to academic symposiums.

Vattikuti Foundation established the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan in 1997.