KFU employees first in Tatarstan to be licensed to use Da Vinci Xi in surgeries
Three lecturers of the Department of Surgical Diseases for Postgraduate Education of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology have been trained and now perform surgeries on the da Vinci Xi 4th generation robotic surgical system.
The program was mastered by Mikhail Burmistrov, Chair of the Department of Surgical Diseases for Postgraduate Education of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, deputy chief physician for treatment of the Republican Clinical Hospital, chief supernumerary specialist in thoracic surgery of Tatarstan; Alexander Kirshin, Associate Professor of said department and deputy chief physician for treatment of the Republican Clinical Oncological Hospital; and Mikhail Ulyanin, senior lecturer of the department, head of 2nd urology department of the Republican Clinical Hospital. The training took place in Tashkent.
At the end of 2024, a 4th generation Da Vinci Xi robot was purchased for the Republican Oncological Hospital. The system is used for surgical interventions in 7 main areas: urology, gynecology, thoracic surgery, abdominal surgery, colorectal surgery, head and neck surgery, and cardiac surgery.
鈥淚n surgery, robots appeared for oncologic operations – this was the first task, and operations in small spaces in the pelvis – this is prostate cancer, cervical cancer, where it is difficult to work laparoscopically, as well as rectal cancer. By and large, all over the world urologists were those working mostly with robots, but with time robots began to assist surgeons providing operations on the abdomen and chest, that is, the places with more free space,鈥� comments Dr Burmistrov.
The three doctors were recruited for a provincial program in robotic surgery. To work on the system, the teachers underwent two-stage studies on at the Moscow Botkin Multidisciplinary Research and Clinical Center. The experts’ combined surgery experience is over 70 years. Since the beginning of 2025, they have performed 18 robot-assisted operations on the abdomen, pelvis, and thorax. During the next academic year, the plan to start passing their knowledge over to resident surgeons.
鈥淭he training should be step-by-step: first they learn to perform open operations, then endoscopic procedures, and after some years, if an individual has the necessary talent, knowledge and desire, they can work with a robot,鈥� adds Dr Burmistrov.
The robotic system does not facilitate the process, but accelerates the mastering of the technologies, he opines. Therefore, for the time being students will master the subtleties of work on the simulator. The best-performing residents during the training will be able to assist in surgeries.