IERCSC 2026: A New Era in Robotic Heart Surgery

On the 11th and 12th of July, 2026, something quite extraordinary happened in a rural corner of Karnataka. At Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli, the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SMSIMSR) hosted the inaugural International Endoscopic & Robotic Cardiac Surgery Conference (IERCSC 2026) and it did so entirely free of cost, a first for any private medical college in India.

Organised in partnership with Manipal Hospitals, Kolkata, and SS Innovations International, the two-day event pulled together cardiac surgeons, doctors, and medical students from across the globe, including India, Greece, the United States, China, Brazil, Ukraine, Germany, and Vietnam. For a rural institute barely a few years old, the scale of participation was itself a statement of intent.

A key milestone of the conference was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SMSIMSR, Manipal Hospitals Kolkata, and SS Innovations International, formally establishing IERCSC as a biennial international academic programme and reaffirming a shared commitment to advancing cardiac surgery through global collaboration.

The conference’s defining moment came on Day One, when Dr Sudhir Srivastava, widely regarded as the father of robotic cardiac surgery in India, performed live telerobotic surgeries from Delhi, operating on patients located hundreds of kilometres away. One procedure was carried out on a patient at SMSIMSR itself, another on a patient in Coimbatore, and a third on a patient in Greece, all guided remotely through the Mantra robotic surgical system. Each of the three patients came through the operations stable and recovering well.

Alongside this, the conference featured simultaneous live surgical transmissions from Thessaloniki (Greece), Coimbatore, and Berlin, covering procedures such as aortic valve replacement, totally endoscopic mitral valve repair, and complex sinus venosus ASD closure. For delegates watching from the auditorium or online, it meant witnessing world-class surgical techniques unfold in real time, across three continents, without a single flight being taken.

The scientific sessions that followed were equally packed, covering the basics of robotics and endoscopic surgery, anaesthesia protocols for minimally invasive procedures, robotic mitral and double valve replacements, redo surgeries, and even a candid session titled “Nightmares in Endoscopic Cardiac Surgery,” where faculty shared the complications and lessons that rarely make it into textbooks.

Perhaps the most consequential development of the conference wasn’t a surgery at all, it was a signature. SMSIMSR, Manipal Hospitals Kolkata, and SS Innovations Gurugram signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing IERCSC as a biennial academic programme, to be held every July. This turns what could have been a one-time showcase into a recurring institution, one that formally commits three organisations to sustaining free, high-level training in robotic and endoscopic cardiac surgery.

That commitment matters because of what it’s replacing. Advanced robotic surgery training abroad typically costs surgeons anywhere from 18 to 20 lakh rupees. By offering the same calibre of training free of charge, SMSIMSR is attempting to remove cost as a barrier to a skillset that could reshape cardiac care access across India and beyond.

Day Two shifted from watching to doing. Bovine hearts were flown in from Delhi and pig hearts from Bangalore, both arriving before dawn, so that senior cardiac surgeons could get hands-on practice in suturing and valve replacement using endoscopic and robotic techniques. Training took place in batches across a dedicated wet lab and a mobile “robot-on-wheels” unit, with over 120 senior surgeons cycling through by day’s end.

Inaugurating the conference, Organising Secretary Dr C.S. Hiremath framed the event’s purpose simply: giving doctors direct access to global experts, not just to learn new technology, but to understand how to apply it safely in real patient care. Dr Srivastava, addressing the gathering as SS Innovations’ founder and chairman, spoke to a larger ambition  that indigenous robotic technology could make advanced healthcare accessible to far more people, and that India has the capability to lead globally in this space.

What makes IERCSC 2026 notable isn’t just the surgical innovation on display, it’s where that innovation is happening. SMSIMSR, founded under One World One Family Mission, is the world’s first free rural medical college, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2023. A decade ago, the site had little infrastructure to speak of; today it’s coordinating live telerobotic surgery across three continents.

As Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai noted at the conference, the goal of medical education was never only to produce skilled doctors, but to nurture those who serve with compassion, a philosophy that now extends healthcare services from this rural campus to countries as far as Nigeria and Sri Lanka.

With the next IERCSC already scheduled for two years from now, the conference has set a template: bring the world’s surgical expertise to where it’s needed most, and make sure cost is never the reason a surgeon or a patient gets left behind.