surgical robotics Archives - Page 3 of 6

Noah Medical reports positive data for surgical robot

The Galaxy System. [Image courtesy of Noah Medical]Noah Medical today announced positive accuracy results from a study of its Galaxy System surgical robot platform.

San Carlos, California-based Noah Medical designed Galaxy and its accessories to provide bronchoscopic visualization and access. These capabilities provide diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in patient airways.

The system features advanced imaging technologies that provide real-time location updates for potentially cancerous lesions. Noah said in a news release that it designed the technology to improve tool-in-lesion and diagnostic yield.

Galaxy received FDA clearance in March of this year. Last week, Noah Medical raised $150 million to support its surgical robot platform.

The MATCH study tested the “tool-in-lesion” accuracy of the Galaxy System. Noah Medical published results for review in the Journal of Bronchology & Interventional Pulmonology.

About the results …

Medtronic combines surgical robotics and surgical innovations units

Medtronic’s Hugo robot-assisted surgery system [Image courtesy of Medtronic]A senior Medtronic executive’s promotion is the latest piece of the puzzle as the world’s largest medical device company seeks significant expense reductions.

Mike Marinaro, who became president of Medtronic’s Surgical Robotics operating unit one year ago, is now EVP and president of Medtronic’s Surgical operating unit.

Fridley, Minnesota-based Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) didn’t announce the changes in a press release or a regulatory filing.

Instead, the medtech manufacturer quietly updated its website to reflect Marinaro’s new title and the “newly created” operating unit, “bringing together a legacy of surgical devices and the new robotic-assisted surgery technology to redefine the future of surgery.”

It’s not clear exactly when Medtronic updated the website, which said Marinaro was “recently appointed” t…

Asensus secures pediatric indication for its robotic surgery system

The Intelligent Surgical Unit powers the Senhance surgical robot system. [Image courtesy of Asensus Surgical]Asensus Surgical announced today that FDA has cleared an expanded pediatric indication for its Senhance robotic surgery system.

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina–based Asensus says Senhance is the first and only digital laparoscopic surgery solution for pediatric patients. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings announcement early this month, it said it expected the pediatric indication this year.

The Senhance system’s Intelligent Surgical Unit combines 3 mm instrumentation, a 5 mm camera scope, haptic feedback, and advanced clinical intelligence, according to Asensus.

Asensus’ Senhance system also has regulatory approval for pediatric patients in the EU and Japan. The company reports strong early clinical utilization in Europe. Surgeons in Europe have performed pediatric general, upper GI, colorectal, and urologic procedu…

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…

Stereotaxis says system placement delays impacted revenues

Stereotaxis (NYSE:STXS) shares took a hit today on fourth-quarter results that missed the consensus sales forecast.

Shares of STXS fell 6.9% to $2.42 apiece in midday trading today.MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — ticked up 1.3%.

The St. Louis-based endovascular surgical robot maker posted losses of $4.5 million. That comes to 6¢ per share on sales of $7.3 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022.

Stereotaxis recorded a 21.6% bottom-line slide deeper into the red on a sales decline of 11.4%. The company’s earnings per share topped estimations on Wall Street by 1¢. However, sales fell short of expectations as analysts forecast $8.5 million in revenue.

Chair and CEO David Fischel said in a news release that Stereotaxis is implementing a new product ecosystem. However, disruptions to that transition came from delays in system placements in 2022, despite …

Surgical robot maker Interventional Systems names new CEO amid leadership changes

Pedro Costa (left) and Dr. Michael Vogele (right) with the company’s Micromate robotic platform. [Image courtesy of Interventional Systems]Miniature surgical robot developer Interventional Systems announced a number of executive changes including a switch in the corner office.

Dr. Michael Vogele, who founded Interventional Systems, intends to step down as CEO. The company tabbed former chief product officer Pedro Costa to succeed him. Additionally, the company named Srdjan Milosavljevic chief technology officer (CTO). Milosavljevic led Interventional Systems’ R&D team previously.

The two new appointments join co-founder and CFO, Thomas Pfeifer, and COO Patrick Lambardt, in the company’s C-suite.

In a blog posted on the company’s website, Interventional Systems’ said Vogele’s mark goes beyond that of a founder and CEO.

“Michael set the tone for what would be the company’s key values: a restless love for al…

Asensus Surgical unveils next-gen Luna surgical robot platform

The Luna platform. [Image courtesy of Asensus Surgical]Asensus Surgical (NYSE:ASXC) announced today that it introduced a next-generation surgical robot platform called “Luna.”

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based Asensus designed luna as an integrated digital surgery solution. It features a next-generation surgical platform and instruments, plus real-time intraoperative clinical intelligence. Its final component, a secure cloud platform, applies machine learning to deliver clinical insights.

Altogether, the Luna platform enables Asensus’ vision of performance-guided surgery, according to a news release.

The company’s unveiling comes on the heels of two major steps contributing to its progress in surgical robotics. Last week, the company announced a collaboration with Google Cloud on the machine learning aspect of its platform. Two days later, the company announced plans to work with Karl Storz on the marketing and development…

Asensus, Karl Storz partner on surgical robot marketing, development

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 memorandum of understanding with Karl Storz VentureONE.

Karl Storz VentureOne is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Karl Storz SE, a maker of endoscopes and other medical instruments and devices. The family-owned company closely collaborates with surgeons and healthcare partners around the globe on technologies for minimally invasive procedures.

The agreement between the surgical robot maker and Karl Storz includes plans for marketing and development. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based Asensus develops the Senhance surgical robot platform. It also develops the Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU) for Senhance.

Asensus designed ISU as a real-time intraoperative surgical image analytics platform. It leverages augmented intelligence to help reduce surgical variability. Earlier this week,…

Vicarious Surgical cuts 14% of its workforce

Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT) announced a layoff in order in order to reduce cash burn and boost R&D spending at the surgical robotics company.

CFO William Kelly told analysts yesterday evening that the present economic environment has Vicarious Surgical focusing on getting a quality robotic surgery system “out the door fast.” He said the company has reduced its workforce by 14%. The company’s most recent annual report listed 165 employees. That means the layoff could have involved roughly two dozen employees.

Those who were let go were mostly engaged in selling, general, and administrative expenses, according to CEO Adam Sachs.

“While previously, it made sense for the company to deploy greater resources and parallel path multiple contingencies in order to absolutely minimize timeline risk wherever possible. In the current market environment, fiscal discipline requires a much more lean approach, focused on growing equity valu…

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…

Ronovo Surgical unveils Carina surgical robot platform

The Carina surgical robot system. [Image courtesy of Ronovo Surgical]Ronovo Surgical announced today that it closed a new round of financing, bringing its total funds raised to more than $50 million since 2020.

Shanghai-based Ronovo develops broad, cross-specialty robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) technology. LongRiver Investments led the latest financing round. Existing investors Lilly Asia Ventures, Vivo Capital, Matrix Partners China and GGV Capital participated. CEC Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor.

Ronovo said it now exits “stealth mode,” unveiling its inaugural Carina robotic platform. Carina, a modular system built on proprietary technology, enables configurable robotic assistance for laparoscopic surgeries across multiple specialties.

Add Ronovo to a host of companies, large and small, that are seeking to take on Intuitive in the soft-tissue robotic surgery space. (Here are 16 surgical robotics companies you need to know.) Read more

Stryker on steroids: How enabling technology will supercharge surgical robotics

Robert Cohen is president of Stryker’s Digital Robotics and Enabling Technologies organization. [Photo courtesy of Stryker]

Stryker is tapping health data and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve surgical robotics outcomes.

Robert Cohen, president of Digital Robotics and Enabling Technologies at Stryker, recently discussed his mission with DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi.

Stryker created the Digital Robotics and Enabling Technologies group in 2021 to “stay laser-focused on the technology,” Cohen said.

“What’s going on in the world of digital, what’s going on in the world of health records, what’s going on in the world of product security? How do we assure there’s no bias in algorithm development? We’re looking at local regulations as well as managing the R&D groups that are doing the robotics, the software, the navigation units for c…