Robotic Surgery Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Levita Magnetics takes its MARS robotic surgery platform international

The Levita Magnetics MARS (magnetic-assisted robotic surgery) system uses magnetic forces to control a grasper instrument inside a patient. [Image courtesy of Levita Magnetics]Levita Magnetics today announced the international launch of its MARS (magnetic-assisted robotic surgery) system with its placement at Hospital Luis Tisne in Santiago, Chile.

Dr. Julio Jimenez used the system to perform same-day-discharge cholecystectomies (gallbladder removal) and bariatric surgeries.

Jiminez previously helped Levita Magnetics with its clinical trials, said Levita Magnetics founder, CEO and President Dr. Alberto Rodriguez-Navarro.

Rodriguez-Navarro is a minimally invasive surgeon from Chile who worked in the public system for nearly 10 years before halting his clinical practice and moving to the U.S. to develop the magnetic technology.

“Returning to my home and bringing something new, something better, it’s really kind of an emotional moment,”…

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)…

USMI to debut Canady surgical robot

The Canady robotic AI surgical system. [Image courtesy of USMI]US Medical Innovations (USMI) today announced plans to display its Canady robotic AI surgical system at the start of next year.

USMI announced the planned debut in collaboration with the Jerome Canady Research Institute for Advanced and Biological Technological Sciences (JCRI-ABTS). They called the announcement “a ground-breaking achievement in surgical and robotic technology.” They plan to unveil the system at the First Global Surgical Oncology Summit in Jerusalem, Israel. It takes place between Jan. 30, 2024, and Feb. 2, 2024.

Canady delivers cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), a three-dimensional, non-contact biometric pulsed electromagnetic field. CAP selectively targets and kills microscopic tumor cells during surgery without damaging non-cancerous surrounding tissue.

The system features a motorized positioning arm, a speech recognition electrosurgical generator called ORLI and a con…

CMR Surgical brings in $165M to support surgical robot

Versius surgical robotics systems [Image courtesy of CMR Surgical]CMR Surgical announced today that it raised a funding round worth $165 million (£133 million) and hit a milestone with its surgical robot.

The Cambridge, UK-based company develops the Versius surgical robotic system. Versius is a small-scale system with collaborative arms and bedside units for direct patient access. It also features freedom of port placement to best suit the needs of each patient. CMR Surgical features on our list of surgical robotics companies you need to know.

According to a news release, the latest round of funding for CMR Surgical was increased due to strong internal demand. All major existing investors, including Ally Bridge Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Escala Capital, LGT and its affiliate Lightrock, RPMI Railpen, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent and Watrium all led the round.

CMR Surgical earmarked the funds to drive continued product innovation, including ne…

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…

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…

Surgeons perform first robotic liver transplant in U.S.

Adeel Khan operates a surgical robot. Khan and a team in St. Louis recently performed the first robotic liver transplant in the U.S. [Image courtesy of Katie Gertler/Washington University]

Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said they recently completed the first robotic liver transplant in the U.S.

The team successfully performed the transplant in May utilizing minimally invasive robotic surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. According to the university’s website, the smaller incision results in less pain and faster recoveries. Meanwhile, the precision capabilities of surgical robotics enabled the team to perform “one of the most challenging abdominal procedures.”

According to the university, the 60-year-old man who received the transplant had liver cancer and cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C. He is currently doing well and has resumed normal, daily activities.…

Moon Surgical thinks Maestro’s light touch can win the surgical robotics arms race

A surgeon using the Moon Surgical Maestro surgical robotics system [Photo courtesy of Moon Surgical]

The Moon Surgical Maestro robotic surgery system faces some stiff competition — and the device developer plans to use that to its advantage.

In an interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing, Moon Surgical CEO Ann Osdoit and Chief Technology Officer David Noonan discussed the technology behind what they described as their system’s key benefit: the ability to collaborate with surgeons.

“We’ve built a collaborative robot, which is not necessarily what you typically see out there in the market,” Noonan said. “[Most] robot arms are extremely stiff. If you want to try and grab a hold of that and use it to manipulate it, you can’t because the payload and the stiffness is what’s needed to execute the task.”

But Maestro is designed to let surgeons directl…

Q&A with John Mazzola, Vicarious Surgical’s first chief operations officer

Vicarious Surgical Chief Operating Officer John Mazzola [Photo courtesy of Vicarious Surgical]

Capping off a medtech career spanning more than three decades, John Mazzola had only been retired from Becton Dickinson for about a week when Vicarious Surgical co-founder and CEO Adam Sachs hired him to lead strategic manufacturing planning.

One year later, the surgical robotics developer has promoted Mazzola to the newly created position of chief operating officer, covering product development, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, clinical, regulatory, IT, people and culture.

Related: Surgical robotics trends and how to accelerate adoption

Mazzola spoke with Medical Design & Outsourcing about the latest from Waltham, Massachusetts-based Vicarous Surgical (NYSE: RBOT), its plans for manufacturing and outsourcing, the company’s recent layoffs and lessons learned about developing and launching …

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 …