MEERUT: A surgeon born and brought up in Meerut has achieved the feat of becoming the first in the US to perform a robot-assisted lung surgical procedure. Dr Ankit Bharat, 39, is surgical director of the lung transplant program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and successfully performed robot-assisted lung volume reduction surgery in December 2018. The procedure removed diseased tissue within the lungs for the treatment of severe emphysema, which involves damage to the air sacs in the lungs due to which the body does not get the oxygen it needs.Bharat studied till Class X in St Mary’s Academy here and completed his Class XII from Delhi Public School, RK Puram. He then studied medicine from Christian Medical College, Vellore, and went for further studies to the US in 2003. He completed his residency in general surgery and fellowship in thoracic surgery from Washington University. He has been working in the US ever since he completed his education.The robotic procedure allows the surgeon to precisely remove the diseased portions of the lungs, which may reduce pain and scarring, lower the risk of infection and shorten recovery time compared to traditional robotic lung volume reduction surgery.“This procedure involves precision when compared with the conventional method because it gives us a magnified three-dimensional view, which is helpful in identification of the diseased portion of the lungs. Also, the incisions made during surgery are only 8 millimeters in size, in contrast with the larger incisions which are required to access lungs in the traditional method. This reduces the risk of infection, thereby leading to quick recovery,” said Bharat.The surgeon’s parents and younger brother, too, are medical professionals, the latter also based in the US. While his father Dr Bharat Kumar Gupta is a chest physician and head of the department of biochemistry) at Subharti Medical College, his mother Dr Vinay Bharat is a consulting pathologist and professor of pathology at Subharti. “It is a proud moment for us and there is a lot he has to achieve. He is so dedicated to his profession that he has decided not to get married because if he does, he will not have enough time for his profession,” said Dr Gupta. Residents of Meerut’s Tilak road, the parents keep frequenting the US to meet both their sons.

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