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Abu Dhabi Hospital To Use Cutting-Edge Robot For Complex Surgeries
The device, named da Vinci Xi, will help surgeons perform difficult minimally invasive procedures with unparalleled precision.
An Abu Dhabi-based healthcare facility has introduced a state-of-the-art robot named da Vinci Xi. The high-tech device will enable Burjeel Medical City’s doctors to carry out complex, minimally invasive surgeries with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency.
Named after Renaissance figure Leonardo da Vinci, the robotic surgical system offers numerous advantages over its human counterparts, including increased precision and enhanced visualization, leading to shorter patient recovery times.
Dr. Jafaru Abu, director of robotic surgery at the hospital, noted the advantages: “With this robotic technology, we can perform complex and minimally invasive surgical procedures with extreme dexterity [enabling] our highly skilled surgeons to provide even better patient clinical outcomes [while] reducing trauma and recovery times”.
Equipped with immersive 3D high-definition visualization technology, da Vinci Xi gives surgeons a highly detailed, magnified view of the surgical area. This enhanced clarity allows for high precision during procedures, potentially reducing complications and ensuring optimal outcomes.
At its core, da Vinci Xi uses robotic hands that mimic the motion of the surgeon controlling them from its console. The robot arms give enhanced agility and delicacy and allow for maneuvers that would be impossible using traditional “straight-stick” laparoscopic surgical instruments.
“Introducing the da Vinci Xi robotic system underscores our commitment to constantly evolving and adopting the latest medical technologies. With the integration of this new technology, we aim to reinforce our position as a leading healthcare institution at the forefront of medical innovation, providing patients with access to world-class, minimally invasive surgical procedures,” explained John Sunil, CEO of Burjeel Holdings.
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With the introduction of the new da Vinci robotic system, Burjeel Medical City can offer patients a wide range of minimally invasive surgeries, covering urology, gynecology, colorectal, upper gastrointestinal, thoracic, bariatric, hepatobiliary, and more.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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