Surgical Robotics Technology
Medical Microinstruments (MMI) SpA, a robotics company dedicated to improving clinical outcomes for patients undergoing microsurgery, announced today that MMI’s Symani® Surgical System was successfully used at Careggi University Hospital Florence by Prof. Marco Innocenti, M.D., and his team in a complex, post-traumatic limb reconstruction that saved a patient’s arm from amputation. The case is the first enrolled patient in MMI’s post-market study.
Prof. Innocenti, the head of reconstructive surgery and microsurgery at Careggi University Hospital, performed the procedure which involved a young adult who suffered a motorcycle accident. After eight months of unsuccessful surgeries and bone fixation attempts, the patient received a recommendation for amputation. Prof. Innocenti was made aware of the case and determined the patient was a candidate for a free-flap reconstruction, which involved transferring a piece of bone and its vessels from the lower leg to the patient’s forearm. The robotic-assisted procedure successfully restored blood flow to the area despite severe damage and extensive scar tissue inside the arm.
“Robotic-assisted technology is a revolutionary tool for microsurgery, because it allows physicians to complete procedures that are difficult or impossible with the human hand,” said Prof. Innocenti. “By increasing our precision, we can reconnect submillimeter vessels and nerves that enable reconstruction even after severe trauma. I am confident our post-market study will show significant advantages to improving patient outcomes, as the patient in the motorcycle accident would have lost her arm without robotic-assisted microsurgery.”
The patient marked the first enrolled in the post-market study. It was also the first time Prof. Innocenti performed a free-flap reconstruction with the fibula bone using the Symani Surgical System.
“By evolving surgical intervention from a manual process to one that leverages robotic technology, we can open the door to procedures that have never been done before,” said Mark Toland, chief executive officer of MMI. “Prof. Innocenti’s accomplishment in this case is an extremely exciting piece of validation for our technology that will contribute to our data collection for our growing global regulatory strategy.”
The Symani Surgical System received CE Mark in 2019 and can enhance free-flap reconstructions, replantations, congenital malformations, peripheral nerve repairs and lymphatic surgeries. The platform minimizes hand tremor and scales physician movements (7-20x), reducing the occurrence of thrombosis by 50 percent in preclinical studies. Its NanoWrist® instruments are the world’s smallest wristed surgical instrumentation and create seven degrees of freedom for optimal dexterity inside of minimally invasive incisions.
The MMI post-market study at Careggi University Hospital Florence is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov. To learn more about MMI and the Symani Surgical System, please visit: www.mmimicro.com.
