While consumer electronics manufacturers are struggling to convince customers of the merit of expensive 3D televisions, there is a clear advantage for surgeons to start using them. During laparoscopic surgery depth perception is notoriously difficult when viewing 2D images on a flat screen. Viking Systems has been filling a void here for some time now with their head-up displays (HUDs) with 3D visualization. However, these displays are clumsy and heavy and only allow visualization for as many people as there are HUDs, which will usually be only one or two. Today they have received FDA clearance for their next-generation system which uses a Sony 3DHD flat panel display with lightweight glasses. Glasses are comfortable to wear and relatively inexpensive compared to the rest of the system. It is purported for use in general surgery, urology, gynecology, spinal surgery, bariatric surgery, ENT and thoracic surgery. The system is scheduled for official launch at the American College of Surgeons’ Annual Clinical Congress which will be held from October 3-7. The company is working on getting the system CE approved as well.
Product page: Viking 3Di Vision System …
Corporate presentation brochure…
Press release: Viking Systems Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for its Next Generation 3DHD Visualization System… (.pdf)
Flashbacks: EndoSite 3Di Digital Vision System Now Used for Thoracic and Neuro Cases; EndoSite 3Di Digital Vision System
Urology Archives
Viking Systems’ Next Generation 3DHD Visualization System
MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound for Noninvasive Treatment of Prostate Cancer
InSightec out of Tirat Carmel, Israel is reporting that its ExAblate MRI guided focused ultrasound system has been used for the first time to treat prostate cancer. ExAblate is already being used around the world for treatment of uterine fibroids and bone metastases (except in U.S. where FDA is yet to approve it for that indication). In this latest study seven patients in Russia and Singapore with localized low-risk prostate cancer have undergone treatment.
“Unfortunately current treatment alternatives are accompanied by relatively high levels of adverse events which significantly impact the quality of life of prostate cancer patients. The most common are incontinence and impotence”, says Dr. Kobi Vortman, President and CEO of InSightec. “Due to the introduction of PSA screening tests, prostate cancer is diagnosed at an earlier age thereby increasing the necessity for a treatment option that minimizes adverse events. The ExAblate prostate system has been designed to provide effective treatments while minimizing the debilitating side-effects caused by damage to functional areas of the prostate and neurovascular bundles, thus the system is expected to enable patients to return to normal life within a day or two while maintaining their quality of life.”
Acculis Accu2i Microwave Tissue Ablation System Gets US Green Light
Microsulis Medical Limited out of Denmead, England has received FDA 510(k) clearance to bring to the US the company’s Acculis Accu2i percutaneous microwave tissue ablation (pMTA) system. The applicator is administered via a 1.8 mm puncture of the skin to deliver microwave energy at 2.45 GHz for coagulation of soft tissue during endoscopic procedures.
Features from the product brochure:
PlasmaBlade 3.0S Telescoping Dissection Device Launched
PEAK Surgical has received FDA clearance for its PlasmaBlade 3.0S dissection device. The PlasmaBlade 3.0S has a 3.0mm wide blade with integrated suction, and a telescoping shaft that extends from 5.5 cm to 15 cm for reaching all those places deep away in the human body. PlasmaBlades are disposable dissection devices that use pulsed waveforms that produce short plasma-mediated electrical discharges to cut through tissue, resulting in the radiofrequency being delivered in short on-and-off pulses with low duty cycle. According to studies performed by the manufacturer, use of the PlasmaBlades results in reductions in thermal injury depth, inflammation and postoperative narcotic consumption and a stronger healed incision strength when compared to the “standard of care”, whatever that may have been.
Press release: PEAK Surgical Introduces PEAK PlasmaBlade 3.0S…
Duke Robot Automates Ultrasound Guided Prostate Biopsy in Lab
By using 3-D ultrasound and artificial intelligence, engineers at Duke University have shown that a robot can sample simulated human prostate tissue without assistance. This could lead to automated procedures in the future, sooner than later as Stephen Smith, the director of the Duke University Ultrasound Transducer Group, points out since all of the hardware used in the technology development is already commercially available. The video below shows the system in action.
The Duke team combined a “souped-up” version of an existing robot arm with an ultrasound system of its own design. The ultrasound serves as the robot’s “eyes” by collecting data from its scan and locating its target. The robot is “controlled” not by a physician, but by an artificial intelligence program that takes the real-time 3-D information, processes it and gives the robot specific commands to perform. The robot arm has a mechanical “hand” that can manipulate the same biopsy plunger device that physicians use to reach a lesion and take samples.
Advertisement
Studies Show Taking a Bigger Biopsy Bite Can Improve Cancer Diagnosis
Well, the above statement seems to be true at least in urology. Two studies presented this week at the 2010 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting have shown that removing larger biopsy samples using Cook Medical‘s BIGopsy forceps can lead to better identification of the nature of suspicious ureteral or kidney lesions.
From Cook’s press release:
Covidien Launches Endo GIA Ultra Universal Endoscopic Stapler and Accompanying Endo GIA Reloads With Tri-Staple Technology
Covidien has introduced the first two products in its new Tri-Staple platform: the Endo GIA Ultra Universal Stapler and the Endo GIA Reloads with Tri-Staple Technology. The system can accommodate a wider range of tissue sizes than traditional staplers, and the company hopes that the improved firing mechanism will make the device more convenient for surgeons to use. Covidien also announced plans to add additional products to the Tri-Staple technology platform over the next year.
From the press release:
From Ethicon Endo-Surgery Comes Longer Harmonic Ace Curved Shears
Ethicon Endo-Surgery has released a new, longer curved shears in its HARMONIC ACE line of endoscopic devices. The new shears sport 45 cm of access specifically to address problems specific to obese patients during laparoscopic procedures.
The additional length of the HARMONIC ACE® 45 cm enables surgeons to reach anatomy during procedures on obese patients while reducing the need to relocate trocars. The ACE® 45 cm also reduces the need to push down on patients’ abdomens, enabling surgeons to rotate the jaws of the device without impacting the trocar.* The HARMONIC ACE® 45 cm, which is being introduced at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), is primarily intended for use in bariatric, general, colorectal and gynecologic laparoscopic surgeries for obese patients, including gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, colectomy and hysterectomy.
Halt Medical Receives FDA Clearance for RFA Device
Brentwood, CA-based Halt Medical has received FDA clearance for its Halt 2000GI Electrosurgical System for soft tissue ablation using radiofrequency energy. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a very precise, minimally-invasive procedure which utilizes an ultrasound-guided probe to deliver a specific amount of energy to destroy tumors, and is used to treat symptoms caused by diseases such as tumors of the liver, breast, prostate, bone, and kidneys.
Press release: Halt Medical, Inc. Receives FDA Clearance… (.pdf)
