Medical Robotics and The Future of Surgery: Interview with Tracy Accardi, VP of R & D for Medtronic Surgical Robotics
Medtronic has been a key player in the minimally invasive surgery space for the last few decades, and has made great strides more recently in robotic surgery with last year’s acquisition of Digital Surgery. As a quick reference point: despite the many benefits of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), only 3% of surgeries around the world are done with the help of robots. Medtronic is aiming to shatter the barriers currently thwarting the adoption of this important technology.
We were able to connect with Tracy Accardi, VP of R&D at Medtronic to catch a sneak peek of what the industry can expect over the next six months&...
Source: Medgadget - March 16, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Alice Ferng Tags: Cardiac Surgery Exclusive Neurosurgery Orthopedic Surgery Plastic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
SENSEI Robotic Gamma Probe Cancer Detector Cleared in Europe
Lightpoint Medical, a company based near London, England, has won the EU CE Mark for its SENSEI robotic gamma probe. The device is the first of its kind, allowing physicians to insert it through a cavity or a standard laparoscopic port and look for lymph nodes and lymphatic system metastasis, when paired with an injectable radioactive tracer. Articulating the probe inside the body is achieved using either manual or robotic tools with a grasper at the distal end, and when using multigrip orientations, six degrees of freedom are achieved.
“Securing CE Mark for SENSEI® is an important milestone in our efforts to...
Source: Medgadget - February 2, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Oncology Surgery Source Type: blogs
Dexter Surgical Robot Works with All Laparoscopy Tools
Robotic laparoscopic surgery is now widely available, with Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci systems being the most common robots out there. These systems typically require specialty tools provided by the robot manufacturer, and the selection is quite limited compared with the wide array of conventional laparoscopic tools that exist. Now, Distalmotion, a Swiss firm, has won European regulatory clearance to introduce its Dexter Surgical Robot that works with any laparoscopic tools.
The Dexter is designed to be easy to bring in and out of the surgical space and used when robotic manipulation can help with increased prec...
Source: Medgadget - January 7, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Ob/Gyn Plastic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Source Type: blogs
CoolSeal for Quick and Safe Vessel Sealing Unveiled
Bolder Surgical, a Louisville, Colorado firm previously called JustRight Surgical, is starting the new year by releasing the CoolSeal vessel sealing platform. The initial product offerings are the CoolSeal Trinity device, a 5mm laparoscopic sealer, and the 3mm CoolSeal Mini, both of which work with the CoolSeal generator.
The CoolSeal Trinity (pictured) is able to dissect, seal, and divide vessels using bipolar RF technology in a matter of seconds, while generating a thermal spread of less than one millimeter. This low power capability helps to prevent damage to any sensitive nearby tissues, and the outer jaws are kept...
Source: Medgadget - January 4, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Ob/Gyn Thoracic Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
Portable Surgical Robot for Minimally Invasive Procedures: Interview with John Murphy, CEO of Virtual Incision
Virtual Incision, a company based in Lincoln, Nebraska, has developed the miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant (MIRA) platform to perform minimally invasive abdominal surgeries, such as colon resections. Conceived as a small and accessible surgical robotic support device, the miniaturized system is considerably less expensive than current robotic surgical platforms.
MIRA is small enough to be easily transported and typically requires fewer incisions than larger and more complex surgical robots. The system can be inserted through a single midline umbilical incision in the abdomen. Strikingly, the device does not need s...
Source: Medgadget - November 2, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Neurosurgery Orthopedic Surgery Plastic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery intuitive surgical minimally invasive surgery virtual incision Source Type: blogs
Robotic Catheterization for Mitral Valve Repair: Interview with Mark Barrish, CEO of Moray Medical
At present, mitral heart valve failure is treated through invasive surgery or via a transcatheter procedure called Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER). However, this procedure is difficult to perform, potentially resulting in suboptimal outcomes in challenging cases and if done by inexperienced clinicians.
To address this, Moray Medical, a company based in Mountain View, California, has developed a robotic catheter and associated technology, including augmented reality and a 3D digital interface, designed to make the job easier. In fact, the company claims that using its technology to deliver cardiac therapies can ...
Source: Medgadget - October 28, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Exclusive Radiology Source Type: blogs
Tubal (ectopic) pregnancy - so near and yet so far !
Being infertile is bad enough, but one of the biggest tragedies is when you get pregnant, but the pregnancy is not in the uterus , and is lodged in the fallopian tubes. This is called an ectopic or tubal pregnancy. Implantation just a fewcentimetres from the right place can make such a big difference !The risk of an ectopic pregnancy is higher in infertile women , because often their tubes are partially damaged ( even though they are open, they may not be functioning properly). Sadly, we can't prevent this.You can have an ectopic pregnancy even after doing IVF , because even though we're transferring the embryo direct...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - October 26, 2020 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
New Technologies Drive Cost Growth Over Time
By KEN TERRY
(This is the eighth and final installment in a series of excerpts from Terry’s new book, Physician-Led Healthcare Reform: a New Approach to Medicare for All, published by the American Association for Physician Leadership.)
Medical technologies include drugs, devices, tests, and procedures. Considered as a whole, these technologies are the key driver of growth in health costs, according to Georgetown University professor Gregg Bloche and his associates.
Bloche, et al., view insurance coverage as the chief enabler of these technological innovations. In a 2017 Health Affairs Blog post, they said, â...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 5, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Health Policy Ken Terry Source Type: blogs
Origami Surgical Manipulator to Perform Microsurgeries
Robotic surgical assistants, such as the da Vinci systems from Intuitive Surgical, are now routinely used during laparoscopic procedures to improve operative precision, flexibility, and to manipulate multiple tools at once. Such devices can be quite complex inside and so they tend to be quite large, often taking up much of the space of an operating room. Moreover, they are still too cumbersome to operate on particularly fragile tissues and smaller anatomical structures.
Now, a pair of researchers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute and Sony Corporation have come up with a tiny robotic surgical assistant that’s as ...
Source: Medgadget - August 26, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Materials Neurosurgery Ophthalmology Plastic Surgery Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
A Laparoscopy Assistance Platform to Optimize Minimally Invasive Surgery: Interview with Anne Osdoit, CEO of MastOR
Minimally invasive surgery has played a huge role in improving patient outcomes, and reducing morbidity and recovery times compared with traditional surgical techniques. However, it can be a little tricky for surgeons to operate through tiny incisions and use complicated equipment, meaning that there is often a significant learning curve and training period involved.
Robotics is well suited to aiding surgeons in minimally invasive surgery and surgical robots have made an impact on the field. However, they come with a variety of limitations including their expense, size, and need for additional training, specific consuma...
Source: Medgadget - July 30, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive GI Ob/Gyn Orthopedic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
EVA15 Surgical Insufflator and Smoke Evacuator for Minimally Invasive Procedures FDA Cleared
Palliare, a company out of Galway, Ireland, won FDA clearance for its flagship product, the EVA15 insufflator and smoke evacuation system. The EVA15 combines two devices into a compact package that is designed for use in laparoscopic, endoscopic, endolumenal, and robotic procedures.
Smoke is a common problem in all kinds of minimally invasive procedures that involve ablation, cauterization, and other kinds of tissue manipulation. Smoke makes it difficult to see the surgical scene, but it can also be harmful to the clinicians that end up breathing in the soot. According to the American Association of periOperative Regist...
Source: Medgadget - July 24, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Orthopedic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Source Type: blogs
Why do some doctors insist on doing a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy before an IVF treatment ?
Many IVF patients are advised to do a hysteroscopy and/or a laparoscopy before starting IVF treatment.Now, this makes a lot of sense for the doctor because they can charge for every surgical procedure - and the more the procedures they do, the more the money they make. But the reality is that most of these operations are completely uncalled for, and they need to be used very selectively. Thus, it may make sense to do a hysteroscopy in case the ultrasound shows that you have a polyp, but if your vaginal ultrasound scan shows your endometrium is normal, then there's no justification to subjecting you to this surgery.Yes, the...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - June 18, 2020 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Xenoscope Disposable 5mm Laparoscope FDA Cleared
Xenocor, a Salt Lake City company, won FDA clearance for its Xenoscope 5mm articulating disposable laparoscope. The device requires no sterilization re-processing between procedures and is thrown away after it’s used, avoiding the necessity for servicing contracts. The entire system being quite compact, it doesn’t need its own large image processing tower.
“Disposable laparoscopes can reduce hospital costs and prevent cross-contamination between patients,” said John Langell MD, President, NEOMED, Greater Cleveland, in a Xenocor press release. “Disposable scopes can also reduce downtime and ...
Source: Medgadget - April 21, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Ob/Gyn Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
Cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy- MRI
Discussion –— Cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy (CSEP) or Cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy resulting from implantation of a blastocyst within myometrial scar tissue (old uterine scars) in the anterior lower uterine segment (LUS) at the site of prior Cesarean section.— It is considered amongst the rarest type of ectopic pregnancy, although some do not include it in the category of ectopic pregnancy as implantation occurs within the uterus itself.— Incidence is on rise due to increasing numbers of elective Cesarean sections as well as improved detection with transv...
Source: Sumer's Radiology Site - March 19, 2020 Category: Radiology Authors: Sumer Sethi Source Type: blogs
