robot-assisted Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Mayo Clinic is using Asensus surgical robotics for pediatric cases

The Intelligent Surgical Unit powers the Senhance surgical robot system. [Image courtesy of Asensus Surgical]Asensus Surgical (NYSE:ASXC) named Mayo Clinic as the previously unidentified hospital customer that has leased the company’s surgical robotics system for pediatric cases.

The Mayo Clinic Hospital at the Saint Marys Campus in Rochester, Minnesota, is already using the Asensus Senhance system for pediatric operations, the device developer said in a recent regulatory filing.

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based Asensus said in July that the deal made Senhance the first system exclusively utilized by pediatric surgeons at any U.S.-based hospital. The device developer named Mayo Clinic in a three-sentence filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month.

Rochester-based Mayo Clinic also uses Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci system at various locations across its hospital network.

Asensus (formerly called TransEnterix)…

Procept BioRobotics wins FDA IDE for Aquablation prostate cancer therapy

The robotic technology used for the Aquablation procedure. [Image from the Procept BioRobotics website]Procept BioRobotics (Nasdaq:PRCT) announced today that it received FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) for its Aquablation therapy.

The IDE allows Procept to initiate a single-arm feasibility study for the Aquablation prostate cancer therapy in the U.S. Data generated from the study could support future research and regulatory applications in the U.S. The company plans to enroll patients with localized prostate cancer across three cancer centers in the country.

Redwood City, California-based Procept says the study takes place at Keck Medical Center (California), Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health and Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center (both New York).

About the Procept BioRobotics Aquablation therapy

Dr. Inderbir Gill, founding executive director for USC Urology as part of Keck, said Aquablation therapy provides efficacy and safety. Gill sa…

Stryker launches direct-to-patient marketing campaign for Mako surgical robot

[Image courtesy of Stryker]Stryker (NYSE: SYK) + announced today that it launched a nationwide, direct-to-patient marketing campaign.

The “Scan. Plan. Mako Can.” marketing campaign aims to drive patient awareness of its Mako SmartRobotics platform. The surgical robotic system offers an option for those who need joint replacement surgery due to arthritis of the knee or hip.

“‘Scan. Plan. Mako Can.’ is rooted in the foundation of Mako SmartRobotics,” said Don Payerle, president of Stryker’s Joint Replacement division. “We have an unwavering commitment to revolutionizing joint replacement technology and enabling surgeons to achieve enhanced outcomes for their patients. We are eager to share this campaign with patients experiencing joint pain so they can seek care and begin their journey towards returning to the activities they love.”

The campaign promotes CT-based …

Vicarious Surgical looks to raise $45M from public offering

[Beta 2 surgical robotics system image courtesy of Vicarious Surgical]Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT) announced that it priced an underwritten public offering worth approximately $45 million in proceeds.

Waltham, Massachusetts–based Vicarious’ offering includes 45 million shares of its Class A common stock priced at $1 per share. Additionally, the company granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 6.75 million shares of common stock.

Before deducting discounts, commissions and expenses, Vicarious expects $45 million in proceeds, assuming no exercise of that option. The company expects the offering to close on or about Aug. 7, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Cowen and Company, LLC serve as joint book-running managers for the offering, according to a news release.

The surgical robot developer did not disclose its intended use of the proceeds. Vicarious Surgical’s approach uses prop…

FDA clears Think Surgical handheld robotic knee surgery device

The TMINI miniature robotic system for total knee surgeries [Image courtesy of Think Surgical]Think Surgical announced today that it’s received FDA 510(k) clearance for its TMINI miniature robotic system that assists with total knee surgeries.

Here’s how Fremont, California–based Think Surgical described the TMINI system in its news release:

“The TMINI system includes a wireless robotic handpiece that assists surgeons in performing total knee replacement. Following a CT-based three-dimensional surgical plan, the TMINI robotic handpiece automatically compensates for surgeon hand movement to locate bone pins along precisely defined planes. Cutting guides are then connected to the bone pins for accurate bone resection. TMINI is easy to use and replaces many of the instruments currently used for knee replacement surgery.”

For comparison, Stryker’s popular Mako system is more about creating a patient-specific preoperative plan off o…

Titan Medical licenses out all of its IP to Intuitive, CEO steps down

Titan Medical recently announced it entered into a licensing agreement with Intuitive Surgical and that the company’s CEO is resigning.

Under the agreement, robotic-assisted surgery company Titan Medical has granted Intuitive a non-exclusive license to all of Titan’s IP, with the exception of the IP that is exclusively licensed to another party under a June 2020 license agreement.

The agreement includes an upfront payment of $7.5 million for certain intellectual property of Titan Medical.

Titan will retain ownership of the licensed IP, along with the associated rights, including the right to continue to develop and commercialize the technologies covered by the licensed IP and the right to license the IP to other third parties, according to a news release.

Corporate leadership and strategic update

Also this week, Titan Medical announced that its board of directors had approved a strategic transition in the company’s business from …

Johnson & Johnson MedTech: ‘Stay tuned’ for Ottava next-gen surgical robot

Martin Buehler.

It’s been about two and a half years since Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) unveiled its plans for a next-generation surgical robot.

At the time, the six-armed “Ottava” system generated a lot of buzz. Johnson & Johnson shared details on the surgical robotic platform set to offer unrivaled flexibility and control compared to the rest of the market. It features six arms to provide more control and flexibility in surgery, while those arms will be integrated into the operating table.

The company said its platform has a zero-footprint design to enable patient access, increase space in the operating room and improve workflow.

Over the past 30 months, though, the company remained tight-lipped over developments with the platform. In October 2021, J&J pushed back the platform’s development timeline by about two years due to multiple factors. It initially expected was to begin the verification and validation processes for …

Johnson & Johnson cuts nearly 350 surgical robotics jobs

The Monarch platform for robot-assisted urology procedures continues to advance. [Image courtesy of Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon]Johnson & Johnson is letting go of nearly 350 employees in the surgical robotics space, according to layoff notices filed in California at the beginning of this month.

The WARN notices list layoffs involving 292 workers at Auris, 47 at Verb Surgical, and four at Ethicon Endo-Surgery. All of the jobs were based in Santa Clara County; the layoffs are effective April 30.

The job reductions are part of the restructuring and layoffs involving at least 1,000 J&J employees that MassDevice reporting uncovered on March 6. MassDevice has reported on more than 19,000 medtech workers let go across the industry since mid-2022.

In an interview in this week’s DeviceTalks Weekly podcast, Joe Mullings, CEO of The Mullings Group, a prominent medical device executive search firm, confirmed that he knew of several positions eliminate…

Could 2023 be a boom year for orthopedic devices?

The goal of Stryker’s Mako robotic-arm assisted surgery is to provide more predictable outcomes. [Image courtesy of Stryker]The orthopedic devices market is expected to reach nearly $50 billion this year as procedures bounce back from COVID-19, according to GlobalData.

GlobalData predicts the orthopedic surgical robotics space will be even hotter this year, growing 25.6% year-over-year to $984 million.

“Boosted by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, new generations of orthopedic robots are expected to further improve clinical outcomes. Unlike the general surgery robotics market — which is dominated by only one company, Intuitive Surgical — all major orthopedic manufacturers are competing in the orthopedic robotics market,” Tina Deng, principal medical devices analyst at GlobalData, said in a news release posted Feb. 1.

In addition, Global Data noted that the pandemic has accelerated the shift of procedures to outpatient or ambulat…

J&J’s Ethicon completes first robot-assisted kidney stone removal with Monarch platform

The Monarch platform for robot-assisted urology procedures. [Image courtesy of Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon]Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson MedTech company, today announced the first robotic-assisted removal of kidney stones using the Monarch platform.

Auris Health, an Ethicon subsidiary, received FDA clearance for Monarch for endourological procedures in May 2022. The University of California, Irvine’s UCI Health used the Monarch platform for urology to complete the first procedure.

According to a news release, it’s the first successful robotically assisted, electromagnetic-guided percutaneous access and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy procedure. Ethicon said its study involves a collaboration with co-investigator Dr. Mihir Desai from the University of Southern California.

“This clinical study is the first in the world to research and demonstrate the potential for improved navigation, access, clearance and control in mini-PCNL proce…

Corindus rebrands as Siemens Healthineers Endovascular Robotics

The CorPath system. [Image from Siemens Healthineers Endovascular Robotics/Corindus]Siemens Healthineers announced that its Corindus company rebranded to “Siemens Healthineers Endovascular Robotics.”

In 2019, Siemens Healthineers bought out Corindus for $1.1 billion. Corindus develops the CorPath robot-assisted device for coronary and peripheral vascular procedures.

According to a news release, brand unification represents “the final step” in the company integration process that began in 2019. The business aims to advance interventions with robotics, changing the delivery of care through innovations. These innovations enhance physician techniques and bring precision to interventional procedures, Siemens said.

Siemens said it now offers the Endovascular Robotics business access to its company-wide resources. That allows it to continue advancing its vision of developing innovative, image-guided robotic solutions. It intends to continue…

Moon Surgical wins first FDA 510(k) clearance for surgical robot

This screen grab from a Moon Surgical marketing video gives an idea of what the Maestro robotic surgery system looks like in action [Image courtesy of Moon Surgical]Moon Surgical announced today that it received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Maestro surgical robotics system.

Paris- and San Francisco-based Moon Surgical designed Maestro to support surgeons in soft tissue surgical procedures. Think of it as a robotic surgical assistant.

The small, adaptable system can integrate into existing clinical workflows. It features capabilities that bolster operating room efficiency and allow for alternative labor models, the company said.

In June, Moon Surgical completed a $31.3 million Series A fundraising. CEO Ann Osdoit said the company aims to make Maestro capable of use in any laparoscopy in any operating room. This could revolutionize minimally invasive surgery through collaborative and adaptive robotics.

Moon Surgical featured…