The Surgeon Turned Inventor – Article by Tan Zhai Yun, April 2019
Dr Philip Gan, a Malaysian-born surgeon based in Australia, is on a mission to make surgery less painful and invasive. Over the years, he has observed how certain procedures and traumatic for patients and wanted to do something to change this.
His area of focus is the minimally invasive laparoscopy, also known as keyhole surgery. It is a surgical procedure that allows the surgon to access the insides of the abdomen and pelvis without having to make large incisions. Doctors simply insert the laparoscope – a small tube with a light source and camera – and small surgical tools called ports into small cuts in the skin to perform surgeries. It is most commonly used in the areas of urology, gastroenterology and gynaecology.