The first robotically assisted brain surgery ever performed in Asia has been successfully completed by the doctors at the Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand on a 77-year-old man with a two-centimeter-diameter brain tumor.

It is a success for the field of medicine in Thailand as well as Asia that the team was able to apply robotic technology in the surgery on a brain cancer patient to improve safety during the procedure and reduce the risk of complications afterward

 Such advanced technology is costly adding about 100,000 Baht to the usual cost of brain surgery – and is not yet covered in any Thai healthcare scheme since it requires close scrutiny by the medical team.

 The technology and equipment cost 40 million Baht, and Thailand and Vietnam are the only countries in Southeast Asia to have the capability.

Robotically assisted brain surgery allows for greater precision in procedures on patients with brain tumors, aneurysms and Parkinson’s disease.