Technology has been their driving force, minimally invasive the gold standard and precision the mantra. And armed with new machines and new skills, surgeons have accessed parts of a patient’s body as never before, used tools and techniques in a whole new way, changed how some types of surgery are performed, hastened the healing process for many and practically created new milestones for the range of patients they can help.

“Modern surgery might not yet feature Star Trek-ian techniques and equipment, but in some regards, they are on their way,” says Dr Naresh Trehan, the cardiologist who pioneered robotic surgery of the heart in the country. But that’s not all. From discovering new drugs and genes, new business models, new use of technology to designing hospital furniture keeping the Indian reality in mind-simple innovations have been the flavour of the season. “The knowledge economy is an innovation economy,” they say. Our doctors and researchers this year have certainly provided a roadmap for turning new ideas into long-term successes.

1. Sizing up the brain

Gene behind brain disorder found

This is what happens when the best brains come together to size up the brain. Geneticist Arun Kumar of the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) and psychiatrist Satish Girimaji of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore worked together for nine years. The outcome? Finding a key gene that causes microcephaly-a disorder marked by smaller-than-normal brain size and mental retardation. Until now only four genes were known to cause this hereditary disorder that develops in the foetal stage. This is the first time a fifth gene, named STIL, has been detected. The new gene is particularly valid for India, where one in every 50,000 to 1,00,000 live births ends up with microcephaly.

2. Beating cancer

Research and technology bring new hope

Medics link the HPV virus to cervical cancer, especially in sexually active women. In India, it kills about 76,000 each year. This year, biochemists, microbiologists and gynaecologists at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences sent a message of hope by detecting the most common HPV types that cause havoc in India. More good news: the Apollo Speciality Cancer Hospital in Chennai launched the CyberKnife technology, a first in India. A pocket-pincher, but it promises precise radiation to cancer cells, avoiding healthy tissue. A noninvasive option that caters to the quality of life of a cancer patient.

3. Gumming the eye

Using glue in eye surgery

For the first time, the entire front part of a patient’s eye-cornea, sclera, iris, pupil and lens-was transplanted at Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital & Eye Research Centre, Chennai. It followed the technique that was used here in 2007 to fix intraocular lens with fibrin glue (generally used to arrest bleeding and seal tissues in surgery) in a patient’s eye where lenses could not be implanted by normal procedures. “Earlier, the treatment of damaged IOL was a challenge for ophthalmologists and in most cases nothing could be done,” says Agarwal. “With this glue technology, we can now treat patients where intraocular lens capsules are missing.”

4. Lend me a hand, robot

Milestone robotic surgeries of chest and stomach

It was the year of surgeons using third-generation robots to reach a range of organs. The first such surgery on the thorax was done by Dr Arvind Kumar of AIIMS, Delhi, in June. Last month,Dr Jaydeep Palep did the first stomach surgery at Care Hospital, Hyderabad.”It’s almost like shrinking one’s hands and putting them in places they would never fit,”says Kumar.

5. The sweet switch

A rare surgery for diabetes

Surgery for diabetes? That’s exactly what Dr Surendra Ugale of Kirloskar Hospital in Hyderabad and Dr Ramen Goel of Bombay Hospital tried out through the Ileal Transposition (or small intestinal switch). The procedure shortens the intestinal tract between the stomach and terminal ileum, shifts it into an upper area and puts it in line again. The fallout? A biochemical process that facilitates insulin secretion in the presence of undigested food and controls Type II diabetes-a metabolic disorder that is marked by the failure to absorb sugar and starch due to lack of the hormone insulin.

6. Sing a different tune

iPhone used to stave off blindness

Who would have thought that the pricey Apple iPhone could help India’s rural masses? But doctors at the Narayana Nethralaya Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Bangalore, are doing precisely that to diagnose vision loss in infants from remote areas. Over 8 per cent of India’s 27 million infants each year weigh less than 2 kg and run the risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity. So long just a handful of city doctors had the know-how. Now with the iPhone and a software developed by the i2i TeleSolutions, the good doctors are busy saving lives across the country.

7. Business unusual

A low-cost luxury hospital

Free market mantra to tackle poverty? Think LifeSpring maternity hospital,Hyderabad. The no-frills chain of small hospitals offering world-class care to low-income clients at 30-50 per cent of market rates is winning kudos for its business model.Set up as a joint venture of Hindustan Latex Ltd and Acumen,US, last year, six hospitals have rolled out, with 30 more on the cards by 2010. Success mantra?With over 1,500 customers a month, optimising resources and leveraging economies of scale.

8. Propped up in style

A homespun hospital bed addresses Indian needs

Between the hand-cranking metal beds and super-expensive motorised ones, Indian hospitals had little choice. Then came Onio, the design firm in Pune set up by two ex-NID-ians, whose unique design won them the Design Brilliance Award. “Indian beds imitated Western designs,” says Prakash Khanzode, who mentored the project. “We spoke to hundreds of doctors, nurses and patients to come up with a design suitable for India.” Plastic on all exposed surfaces, quick-shifting, totally adjustable, the Vita Bed is ready for ICUs. Godrej is about to market it.

9. At your finger tips

Ancient medical skills online

Thousands of years of accumulated medical knowledge at the click of a mouse. Thanks to the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and the Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health, the world’s first traditional knowledge digital library took shape this year. With over 200,000 ayurveda, siddha and unani formulations across 30 million pages in five international languages, it will hopefully put an end to the rampant misappropriation of time-honoured medical knowledge and practices-a growing concern.

10. Power-packed pill

A five-in-one capsule for the heart

Lifestyle moderation is the key to prevent chronic diseases. Yes, we all know that. But in this age of lifestyle excesses, those who forget to look after their cardiovascular health, a preventive pill is about to come handy. It’s a five-in-one drug combo meant to keep blood singing through your veins and simmer down raging cholesterol and blood pressure. Designed by a team of doctors from Bangalore’s St. John’s Medical College and McMaster University, Canada, the polypill-a first in the world-is likely to reduce coronary heart disease by 62 per cent and stroke by 48 per cent.