Sachin Sankholkar

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University, Motion Control (United States), Hershey (United States)

Papers

Total Citations

176

H-Index

About

Dr. Sachin Sankholkar is a pioneering figure in the field of robotic cardiac surgery, whose foundational work helped transform coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) from an open-chest procedure into a viable, minimally invasive endoscopic operation. His research focuses on the intersection of robotic microsurgical systems and cardiac revascularization, with a primary goal of achieving completely endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting (ECABG). Sankholkar’s major contributions are documented in a series of landmark animal studies from the late 1990s. His most cited work, “Robotically assisted microsurgery for endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting” (1998, 106 citations), established the technical feasibility of using robotic assistance to perform precise microanastomoses. This was followed by chronic and acute large animal trials (1998–1999, 21–26 citations each) that demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the approach, proving that a beating heart could be bypassed through small ports without sternotomy. By systematically validating the robotic system’s ability to replicate open-surgery outcomes, Sankholkar provided the critical proof-of-concept that paved the way for the clinical adoption of robotic CABG, directly influencing the evolution of modern, less invasive cardiac surgery.