Medgadget » Thoracic Surgery

Olive Medical’s HD Rigid Endoscope Provides High Resolution Visualization

Gene Ostrovsky — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:54:49 +0000

Olive Medical out of Salt Lake City, Utah unveiled its HD rigid endoscope for use with the company’s fully HD camera. The endoscope is autoclavable and the company is now offering a rigid endoscope repair program that promises to repair the devices within 48 hours.

Some stated features of the endoscope from the announcement:

MScore Analyzes Robotic Surgery Simulator Performance

Gene Ostrovsky — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:41:41 +0000

Mimic Technologies, a company that builds the dV-Trainer, a da Vinci surgical robot simulator, recently released a software product to help assess how novice surgeons are using the simulator. The company has been collecting data from experienced surgeons performing various tasks on the simulator, and the MScore application is able to compare a novice user of the dv-Trainer against this data set to provide an overall performance score.

The hope is that with better in-silico training coupled with performance feedback, fewer animals will be sacrificed for this task, and patients will have better skilled surgeons working on them.

Caiman Seal and Cut Tools from Aesculap Now Available

Gene Ostrovsky — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:01:16 +0000

Aesculap, a subsidiary of B. Braun, has announced it is making available its Caiman line of surgical tools.

The devices feature unique jaw articulation for control and the company’s own algorithm that controls the energy applied to ensure a proper tissue seal.

DistalMotion’s Surgical Tool Combines the Best of Robotic and Endoscopic Surgery

Scott Jung — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:33:30 +0000

The advantages of endoscopic surgery are many. However, there are also drawbacks, especially for surgeons. Consider the following. Endoscopic surgery lacks fine precision due to the rigid nature of the tools. Moreover, because the surgeon is basically operating a lever (the beam being the surgical instrument and the trocar being the fulcrum), the surgeon’s movements are actually operating in opposite direction, which necessitates extensive training.

Robotic surgery has been developed concurrently with the advancement of electronic and computer technologies with a specific goal of solving some intrinsic problems of endoscopic approach. Surgical robots, such as the da Vinci, allow a surgeon to not only work remotely, but to also be able to effortlessly perform delicate procedures with his or her hands because of the robot’s ability to translate large movements by the surgeon into small movements in the corresponding instruments. However, the surgeon does not have any haptic feedback when instruments come in contact with tissue. Moreover, available surgical robots are very expensive and require a lot of space, a luxury that few hospitals have.

Imalux Niris 1300e Epithelial OCT System Cleared in Europe

Gene Ostrovsky — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:09:33 +0000

Imalux out of Cleveland, Ohio received the CE Mark for the Niris 1300e tissue imaging system. The device is used to scan epithelial tissue for signs of disease, essentially like an optical biopsy. It relies on near-infrared optical coherence tomography which doesn’t damage the tissue it’s analyzing, while providing real-time cross-sectional visualization via the attached computer. The probe is sterilizable and can also be used inside a single-use semi-rigid sheath to minimize cleaning between patients.

Integra LifeSciences’ Jarit Take-Apart Laparoscopic Instruments Released

Gene Ostrovsky — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:47:34 +0000

Integra LifeSciences received FDA clearance and is now poised to release its Jarit line of take-apart laparoscopic instruments. They are reusable and designed for easy cleaning and sterilization, which should help with quick turnarounds and help hospitals save money in the OR.

This product line addresses the growing concerns of both hospitals and regulatory bodies about the need for instruments that can be more easily cleaned and sterilized. “These new laparoscopic patterns are an important addition to our instrument portfolio. Long, narrow cannulas and intricately fitting components are a challenge to clean, yet are necessary for minimally invasive surgery. Our new take-apart design balances ease of cleaning with surgeon preference, both of which are important goals in achieving optimal patient care,” said Dan Reuvers, President, Integra Surgical.

CareFusion Introduces Snowden-Pencer Laporoscopic Instruments

Gene Ostrovsky — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:46:25 +0000

CareFusion just unveiled the new Snowden-Pencer line of laparoscopic instruments. The devices are designed for easy disassembly so that cleaning and sterilization are an easier process, making these reusable devices more competitive (and more cost-effective) than throw-aways.

The new line features smart snap-on connections and special markings to make assembly intuitive while preventing accidental disconnections so that the units stay together confidently during an operation.

Covidien’s New Optical Trocar, Line Extensions for LigaSure

Gene Ostrovsky — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:28:46 +0000

Covidien has released a few new surgical products at the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons last week. One is the Versaport bladeless optical 5 mm trocar that features a “dolphin-nose” tip with “V2 geometry” resulting in a low profile that is meant to be easy to insert through tissue.

There are also two new line extensions, 20cm and 44cm, for the LigaSure 5mm blunt tip sealer/divider. The device seals vessels up to 7mm in size, lymphatics and tissue bundles, as well as in two to four seconds using both pressure and energy delivery.

CHECKPOINT Stimulator/Locator Helps Spot Motor Nerves

Gene Ostrovsky — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:52:15 +0000

According to a report at MedCity News, Checkpoint Medical (Cleveland, Ohio) received the European CE Mark for its CHECKPOINT Stimulator/Locator, a device that is used, according to the company, to “locate, identify and evaluate motor nerve and muscle function in surgical procedures that require careful and precise soft tissue dissection or nerve exploration or repair.”

The device is designed to be used intraoperatively in nerve exploration or repair procedures, as well as in cases where nerve identification and protection is very important, such as in radical mastectomies where iatrogenic damage to the long thoracic nerve is a very common problem.

Treating Pancreatic and Prostate Cancer with LASER Activated Drugs

Gavin Corley — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:42:07 +0000

SpectraCure AB, a Swedish medical device company, has received approval to begin testing the Interstitial PhotoDynamic Therapy (IPDT) system on pancreatic cancer patients in the UK. Photodynamic therapy comprises a light-activated drug and a matching light source. The light-activated drug is administered to the patient prior to surgery and absorbed by the tumor. When light is delivered to the region of the tumor, it activates the light sensitive drug which destroys the cancerous tumor cells through apoptosis or necrosis.

Photodynamic therapy has been around for some time, but is frequently limited in its use to deeper lying tumors due to the poor penetration depth of the light source and difficulties in controlling the dose. SpectraCure’s IPDT system aims to overcome these problems by delivering the laser light source through fiber optic cables which also monitor the dose by feeding back optical data from the treated region.