Editor's Note A deal has been signed by Olympus with FlexDex Surgical to distribute its wrist-controlled Needle Driver robotic device, the August 23 Medical Design & Outsourcing reports. The FlexDex Needle Driver, which is used to streamline suturing in areas of the abdomen that are hard to access, will complement…

Read More

Editor's Note Robot-assisted and open cystectomies are equally effective in treating bladder cancer, this 7-year study finds. Conducted at 17 institutions, 350 patients with bladder cancer were randomized to the open (175 patients) or the robot-assisted (175 patients) surgical approach. The researchers found lower blood loss and transfusion rates and…

Read More

Robotic-assisted surgery offers many potential advantages, including shorter operative time, less morbidity, and faster patient recovery. But rigorous comparisons with traditional surgical methods and cost-effectiveness analyses are still limited, and the price tag of the robot (in the neighborhood of $1 million) and annual maintenance contract (roughly $150,000) may give…

Read More

Editor's Note A Meddevicetracker analysis expects the global market for robotically assisted surgical devices to see an 11.7% compound annual growth rate, reaching $5.3 billon by 2021, the November 10 Medtech Insight reports The market is being led by Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci systems, although the analysis predicts more competition…

Read More

Editor's Note Robotic-assisted nephrectomy is more expensive and takes longer than conventional laparoscopic nephrectomy and confers no additional benefits, this study finds. The proportion of robotic-assisted nephrectomies increased from 1.5% in 2003 to 27% in 2015. Of 23,753 patients analyzed, no significant differences were found in major postoperative complications between…

Read More

  Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 13 cleared the Senhance System (TransEnterix Surgical Inc, Morrisville, North Carolina), a new robotically-assisted surgical device. The design of the Senhance System allows surgeons to sit at a console unit that provides a 3-D high-definition view of the surgical…

Read More

Editor's Note Concepts from motor racing pit stops, including role definition, task allocation, task sequencing, and a visual cue for ease-of-use, created efficient and sustainable approaches for decreasing robotic OR turnover times in this study. Average turnover time was 99.2 minutes before introducing the pit stop model and 53.2 minutes…

Read More

Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M), Ann Arbor, have invented a new surgical instrument with the goal of addressing a vast, unmet need in minimally invasive surgery. For less than a thousand dollars, this platform technology—currently being commercialized by the start-up FlexDex Surgical—offers capabilities similar to those of the…

Read More

Editor's Note Robotic cholecystectomy was associated with greater operative times but with similar safety and outcomes as conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy, in this study. The analysis included 13 studies involving 1,589 cholecystectomy patients (921 laparoscopic, 668 robotic). Operative time for the robot-assisted procedure was 128.0 minutes vs 115.3 minutes for laparoscopic.…

Read More

Editor's Note Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M), Ann Arbor, have invented a new $500 surgical instrument that is vying to replace the $2 million deVinci robot for minimally invasive surgery. FlexDex, a mechanical platform that mounts to the surgeon’s arm, enables the tip of an instrument to mimic…

Read More