Surgical Robotics Technology
Medical device business, TransEnterix, Inc. (NYSE American:TRXC), has announced that Kitakyushu General Hospital in Japan has completed its first surgeries using Senhance® Surgical System. TransEnterix is digitizing the interface between the surgeon and patient to improve minimally invasive surgery.
The first patients were treated by Dr. Naoki Nagata, President of Kitakyushu General Hospital, and team across general and colorectal minimally invasive surgical procedures. TransEnterix had announced on January 29, 2020 that Kitakyushu General Hospital had entered into an agreement to lease and utilize a Senhance System.
“It is gratifying to see system installation, clinical training, Senhance program launch and first clinical cases completed within three weeks from signing of the agreement at Kitakyushu General Hospital and showcases the hospital’s commitment to integrating Senhance into their minimally invasive surgery program,” said Anthony Fernando, president and chief executive officer at TransEnterix. “We look forward to continuing our clinical partnership with the Kitakyushu General Hospital team.”
Kitakyushu General Hospital is a prestigious institution and is recognized as one of the major hospitals in Kitakyushu. It offers both advanced and emergency medical care and is a core part of the Kitakyushu Hospital Group. It is a 360-bed facility that contains a critical care center and is the only general hospital in the Kitakyushu Hospital Group.
“We are pleased to bring this new minimally invasive surgery platform to our patients,” said Dr. Nagata. “Our Kitakyushu surgical team was able to easily and rapidly integrate the Senhance System program, progressing smoothly from installation, through staff training, to performing our first cases in a matter of weeks. The clinical partnership and comprehensive support from TransEnterix allowed us to efficiently launch this new program to our community.”
The Senhance® System is the first and only digital laparoscopic surgical platform designed to maintain laparoscopic MIS standards while providing digital benefits such as haptic feedback, robotic precision, comfortable ergonomics, advanced instrumentation including, 3 mm microlaparoscopic instruments, eye-sensing camera control and reusable standard instruments to help maintain per-procedure costs similar to traditional laparoscopy. It is the first new abdominal robotic surgery platform to receive FDA clearance since 2000 and is approved for use in Japan with broad reimbursement. The Senhance Surgical System was approved for use by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) in 2019, and has the broadest procedural reimbursement of any abdominal robotic surgery platform in Japan, which applies to 98 benign and malignant laparoscopic procedures across general, colorectal, gynecologic, pediatric and urologic surgeries at reimbursement rates equivalent to traditional laparoscopy in Category A1.
