ENT Archives

marLED Surgical Lights from KLS Martin

773423j marLED Surgical Lights from KLS Martin
By perusing through the latest stuff coming out of Germany, we found a little press release from Gebrüder Martin GmbH & Co.KG, also known as KLS Martin Group, that profiled the company’s new generation of operating lights, named marLED.
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This operating room fixture runs on what the company calls “Second-Generation LEDs” and is designed to minimize formation of shadows and to deliver a cold, bright light. Furthermore, the marLED can be equipped with KLS Martin’s surgiCam SD and HD camera systems, for an intraop procedure recording. The camera can be seen in the picture below.
From marLED product page:
553123 marLED Surgical Lights from KLS Martin

In this brand-new product line, high-performance LEDs are used as a basis for effective problem solution even where surgical field illumination is difficult. By using a new overall approach in terms of design as well as lighting technology, it was possible to overcome the limits of existing solutions and set new standards regarding shadow prevention and color fidelity. The radically new optical and housing concept also makes a lasting contribution towards facilitating the surgeon’s work. The innovative, modern design with its symbiosis of ergonomics and technology gives the operating room a pleasing, state-of-the-art atmosphere.

  • Maximum adaptation of the light field
  • Space-saving design creates room for movement
  • Compatibility with laminar flow systems
  • Ergonomic and perfectly easy operation with sensoTouch and sensoGrip
  • Cool light and excellent shadow compensation
  • Variable color temperature
  • Product pages: marLED; surgiCam
    Press release: The marLED Lights from KLS Martin …

    RoSS Simulator Preps Surgeons to Use da Vinci Robot

    RoSS Simulator Preps Surgeons to Use da Vinci Robot

    Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and State University of New York at Buffalo, developed a surgical simulator to help train physicians to operate the da Vinci robot. The RoSS Robotic Surgical Simulator has been turned into a product and commercialized by a spinoff called Simulated Surgical Systems of Williamsville, NY. Practicing physicians and students can train on common tasks like suturing and knot tying, and even perform complete procedures like radical prostatectomies and hysterectomies.
    Features of the device:

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    Riester Unveils New ENT Scopes

    Riester Unveils New ENT Scopes

    Riester out of Jungingen, Germany has released a new line of ophthalmoscopes and otoscopes that feature efficient cool white LED lighting, easy battery management, quick swapping of instrument heads, and a choice of using handles built for C or AA batteries.

    All the ri-scope® L- series’ E.N.T. (ear, nose and throat) diagnostic instruments feature Riester’s new LED lighting technology that provides a whiter light, improving examinations because of its enhanced image clarity and colour contrast. The area under examination is shown in true-colour – the improved red-colour contrast aiding a reliable and exact diagnosis. Lamps with LED technology have a lifetime of at least 10,000 hours, compared to just 20-30 hours for halogen and xenon lamps.

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    Medtronic’s ENT Scope Sheath Proves Effective for Germicidal Protection

    Medtronic's ENT Scope Sheath Proves Effective for Germicidal Protection

    A study out of Boston University School of Medicine, presented last week at the annual Triological Society meeting, has looked into the effectiveness of Medtronic‘s Slide-On Sensory Sheath as an alternative to germicidal immersion for flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopes in between procedures. The condom-like device is wrapped over the fiber optic cable to prevent ENT scopes from getting dirty in the first place. The scope still requires an “enzymatic detergent cleaning and disinfection with 70 percent alcohol” when switching between patients, but the Slide-On should still save time during busy use of the scope.
    From a Medtronic statement:

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    Dental Hearing Aid Technology from Sonitus Medical

    Dental Hearing Aid Technology from Sonitus Medical

    Sonitus Medical out of San Mateo, California is a company that’s betting on bone conducting dental hearing implant technology. The SoundBite Hearing System that the firm is developing consists of a unit that has a microphone and wireless transmitter, and a tiny speaker that attaches to rear teeth to resonate and transmit the audio mechanically to the cochleae. The idea for this technology is not new and maybe risky, but Sonitus Medical seems confident it can earn regulatory approval and introduce an all new hearing aid technology to market.

    The SoundBite hearing system consists of both a BTE (behind the ear) microphone unit, housing the receiver, wireless transmitter, and attached microphone, and a discreet, removable ITM (in the mouth) hearing device. An inductive charger unit is provided to charge the BTE microphone unit and ITM hearing device.

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    IMRIS Combination MRI Fluoroscopy Systems for Intraprocedural Multimodal Imaging

    IMRIS Combination MRI Fluoroscopy Systems for Intraprocedural Multimodal Imaging

    IMRIS out of Winnipeg, Canada recently received FDA approval to market the firm’s neurovascular and cardiovascular combination MRI/X-ray angiography systems. The IMRISnv and IMRIScardio systems feature MRI scanners that ride on rails attached to the ceiling and a complete fluoroscopy package that can be swung in and out of the surgical field. This combination allows clinicians to quickly evaluate the problem, perform a procedure, and then check back with the MRI to see how it went, all without moving the patient.

    IMRISNV features a wide bore 3T MRI scanner and a bi-plane angiography system completely integrated into a single suite that permits the patient to transition quickly and seamlessly between MR imaging and intervention without transporting the patient between modalities. Using IMRISNV, MR images can be taken before and during procedures to assess tissue health, and can also be used in conjunction with the fluoroscopic images during the interventional procedure. On completion of the procedure, new images can be taken to evaluate the intervention.

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    Esteem Totally Implantable Hearing Device On Track for US Approval

    Esteem Totally Implantable Hearing Device On Track for US Approval

    Last Friday we reported that the FDA’s Ear, Nose, and Throat Advisory Committee has met to discuss whether to recommend approval of Envoy Medical‘s (St. Paul, Minn) fully implantable hearing aid. Now word is that the group unanimously voted to suggest giving the go ahead to allow marketing of the Esteem device in the US.
    More details in the press release: FDA Advisory Panel Votes 15 to 0 in Favor of Approving Envoy Medical’s Esteem® Fully Implantable Hearing Restoration System…

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    A Christmas Gift to Intuitive Surgical: TransOral Robotic Surgery Gets FDA Approval

    A Christmas Gift to Intuitive Surgical: TransOral Robotic Surgery Gets FDA Approval

    The FDA has given the go ahead for surgeons to use robotic surgery for procedures in the throat and nearby regions by going through the mouth. In effect, this is a new indication for the Da Vinci Surgical System from Intuitive Medical, as it is the only robot of its type that can be used to perform the procedures. The transoral applications of robotic surgery have been developed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where a special center was created to study the subject.

    Drs. Gregory S. Weinstein and Bert W. O’Malley, Jr. of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery founded the world’s first TransOral Robotic Surgery (TORS) program at Penn Medicine in 2004, where they developed and researched the TORS approach for a variety of robotic surgical neck approaches for both malignant and benign tumors of the mouth, voice box, tonsil, tongue and other parts of the throat. Since 2005, approximately 350 Penn patients have participated in the world’s first prospective clinical trials of TORS.

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    Esteem Totally Implantable Hearing Device Under Consideration for Approval in US

    Esteem Totally Implantable Hearing Device Under Consideration for Approval in US

    Today at the Ear, Nose, and Throat Advisory Committee of the FDA a meeting is under way to consider whether to recommend approval of Envoy Medical‘s (St. Paul, Minn) fully implantable hearing aid. The Esteem device uses a piezoelectric sensor to monitor the eardrum and convert the signal into digital for processing. The processed information is then converted back into physical vibrations and applied to the stapes capitulum. MedPage Today is reporting that in a recent clinical trial the device improved the hearing of a good number of subjects, but almost half experienced some sort of adverse effects such as taste disturbance and facial palsy.

    The Esteem™ Totally Implantable Hearing Device (TIMED) is a totally implantable hearing system that is implanted under the skin behind the ear and in the middle ear space. The Esteem™’s purpose is to help improve hearing in adult patients who have mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss, and who have at least 60% or better discrimination of words (WRS). The goal is to provide comfortable, natural sounding, high fidelity sound to participants with sensorineural hearing loss by direct driving of inner ear fluid.

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