surgical robotics Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

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…

Two-armed surgical robot prototype targets pediatric brain tumors

The endoscopic brain robot’s arms are each 2.8 mm in diameter and 35 mm long when fully extended. Together, they offer a 43 mm diameter workspace. [Image courtesy of Boston Children’s Hospital]

Researchers say they’ve developed a surgical robot for removing brain tumors in children, and that it could also offer a less invasive, safer option for adult neurosurgery and other procedures.

The trick is using hollow, nitinol robot arms to allow neurosurgeons to swap tools during a tumor resection procedure, said Pierre DuPont. He’s the chief of pediatric cardiac bioengineering at Boston Children’s Hospital, and the corresponding author of a new research paper detailing the potential advantages of a two-armed neuroendoscopic robot.

In an interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing, DuPont traced the project back to conversations with Dr. Jim Drake, chief of neurosurgery at Sick…

FDA clears Insight Medbotics’ MRI-compatible surgical robot

The IGAR system. [Image courtesy of Insight Medbotics]Insight Medbotics announced today that it received FDA 510(k) clearance for its IGAR MRI-compatible surgical robot system.

Clearance for the Hamilton, Ontario-based company’s robot applies to breast biopsy indications.

The company said IGAR is the first and only robotic system designed to work inside an MRI bore to garner this regulatory clearance. It features adaptability for future products that could move seamlessly across different care environments. Insight Medbotics says that includes moving from an MRI to a standard operating room or a physician’s office.

IGAR demonstrated its safety and efficacy in published clinical studies for breast biopsies. Other potential applications include targeting other organs and disease indications, as well as therapeutic delivery and device placement.

“Our team has long believed in the untapped potential of accessible MRI imaging, artificial…

How Noah Medical’s robotic Galaxy system goes deep into the lungs

Noah Medical’s Galaxy system for lung biopsy uses a robotic bronchoscope to reach and sample for suspected cancers deep in a patient’s lungs.

But the brightest star in the Galaxy system isn’t that disposable, robotic scope, but rather Noah Medical’s tool-in-lesion tomosynthesis (TiLT) technology, designed to help surgeons retrieve samples that will provide a definitive answer from the pathology lab.

Medical Design & Outsourcing spoke with Noah Medical VP of Engineering John Shen to learn more about how the system works, how it was developed, and potential applications of the technology.

Noah Medical VP of Engineering John Shen [Photo courtesy of Noah Medical]

“Robotic systems are hellishly complex,” Shen said. “There are many, many, many systems or components that in their own right are complex devices, and they all need to be working together …

Two technologies that will be huge for robotic surgery, per Intuitive’s Dave Rosa

Intuitive President Dave Rosa [Photo courtesy of Intuitive]

Intuitive Surgical President Dave Rosa says he doesn’t get too excited by the idea of better robotic surgery graspers or more flexible wrists.

Instead, Rosa identified two technological opportunities that are going to advance surgical robotics and minimally invasive surgery in a major way: improved visualization for surgeons and focal therapy.

“How can we help surgeons see more about what they’re doing? … That, to me, is a huge piece of the puzzle going forward that I’m really excited about,” Rosa said in an interview with DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi for our Intuitive Talks podcast.

DeviceTalks West: Intuitive President Dave Rosa will give a keynote interview in Santa Clara, California on Oct. 19

Improving visualization

The difference between the best and worst surgeons isn’t…

Asensus, Nvidea to collab on AI for surgical robotics

The Intelligent Surgical Unit powers the Senhance surgical robot system. [Image courtesy of Asensus Surgical]Asensus Surgical (NYSE:ASXC) announced today that it entered into a collaboration with Nvidia to accelerate the development of its ISU.

The partnership aims to enhance the ISU (Intelligent Surgical Unit), part of Asensus’ performance-guided surgery offerings. Asensus designed its flagship Senhance surgical robot platform around the ISU. The real-time intraoperative surgical image analytics platform leverages augmented intelligence to reduce surgical variability. It allows the surgeon to measure anatomy, place digital tags, enhance surgical images and utilize AI-driven control of the camera.

Asensus said it linked up with Nvidia, an AI computing leader, to improve the ISU’s ability to deliver novel clinical intelligence to surgeons. Read more on Nvidia and its use of generative AI in the pharmaceutical industry here.

Research Triangle Park…

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 plans for in-human surgical robot trials next year, posts Q2 EPS miss

[Beta 2 surgical robotics system image courtesy of Vicarious Surgical]Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT) shares dipped this morning on second-quarter results despite a positive update on its surgical robot.

Shares of RBOT fell 2.9% to $1.69 apiece in midday trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — stayed even.

The company failed to beat Wall Street expectations but shared good news on the regulatory process for its surgical robot platform. Vicarious Surgical’s approach uses proprietary human-like surgical robots. It transports surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery.

In April, Vicarious completed a design freeze for its Version 1.0 (V1.0) system. Integration and the build of system units remain on track for fall 2023.

Having received some input from the FDA, Vicarious Surgical expects to begin first-in-human trials in mid-2024. The c…

Four-armed surgical robotics system taps a surgeon’s feet for controls

By Brianna Wessling at The Robot Report

A surgeon can control two of this four-armed surgical robotics system’s arms with their hands and the other two with their feet. [Photo courtesy of EPFL]

Researchers at EPFL, a public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, have developed a four-armed surgical robotics system that allows surgeons to perform laparoscopic surgeries by controlling two of the robotic arms using haptic foot interfaces. The results were published in The International Journal of Robotics Research.

The research was a collaboration between the research group REHAssist and the Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory (LASA). It was led by EPFL Ph.D. students Jacob Hernandez and Walid Amanhoud, who developed a system that allows surgeons to control two robotic arms using haptic foot interfaces with five degrees of freedom. In this setup, each of the surgeon’s hands controls a ma…

How surgical robotics leader Intuitive is growing in China

Intuitive Surgical SVP and Asia-Pacific (APAC) GM Glenn Vavoso [Photo courtesy of Intuitive Surgical]

China is the second-largest procedure market for Intuitive Surgical‘s da Vinci system and one of the fastest-growing markets for the surgical robotics developer.

But China’s been a tough country for medical device manufacturers due to the sales and supply chain challenges of COVID-19, the country’s volume-based procurement (VBP) policy, and home-grown competitors.

Glenn Vavoso, SVP and Asia-Pacific (APAC) GM at Intuitive Surgical — one of the world’s largest medical device companies – recently spoke with DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi for the latest edition of Intuitive Talks.

DeviceTalks West: Intuitive President Dave Rosa will be a keynote speaker on Oct. 19

Here are just a few highlights from Vavoso on Intuitive’s experience and activities in Chin…

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…

Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha offers updates on supply chain, labor, R&D, Hugo and more

Medtronic CEO and Chair Geoff Martha [Photo courtesy of Medtronic]

Medtronic CEO and Chair Geoff Martha spoke today at the Goldman Sachs Annual Global Healthcare Conference, sharing insights on a range of important issues for medtech developers.

Martha — who leads the world’s largest medical device company — offered his latest observations on labor, supply chain issues and international markets. He also discussed plans to increase R&D spending and the latest on Medtronic’s surgical robotics system, Hugo.

The 35-minute interview is already available for replay. The following excerpts have been lightly edited for space and clarity:

Labor issues are abating, allowing for increased procedure volumes

“The labor markets have gotten a little better. Some of the procedures that were lagging were really dependent on labor like TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) and things l…