Press Releases
Second U.S. Center Utilizes the USGI EndoSurgical Operating System™ for Oral Gall Bladder Removal
The EOS enables this incisionless surgical technique known as Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. - September 17, 2007 - USGI Medical Inc., makers of the EndoSurgical Operating System™ (EOS), today announced that a second center enlisted its surgical platform to orally remove a patient's gall bladder. On Aug. 31, a three-member physician team from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago became the nation's second center to utilize the EOS to successfully perform Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) to remove a gall bladder through the patient's mouth instead of through an abdominal incision.
"NOTES holds the potential to not only mitigate the pain and discomfort associated with traditional procedures, but may eventually reduce a patient's recovery time to as little as one day by eliminating incisions through the nerve-filled abdominal wall," said Nathaniel Soper, MD, the Northwestern Memorial surgeon who together with colleagues Eric Hungness, MD and John Martin, MD, performed the procedure. By eliminating incisions, NOTES may allow surgeons to carry out procedures with the patient under sedation, rather than general anesthesia and may help eliminate post-operative wound infections or hernias.
Martin, an Associate Professor of Medicine for the Feinberg School, explains that physicians have been conceptualizing natural orifice surgery for years, but most modern endoscopic tools did not offer a platform for it. By utilizing the EOS, which offers surgeons a stable operating platform, instruments can be manipulated to view, cut, grasp, and suture tissue without ever cutting into the skin which may be attractive to some patients as these procedures can eliminate all visible scars.
To date, laparoscopic ports in the abdomen have been utilized in conjunction with the EOS platform to safely assist in the development of the procedure. However, surgeons anticipate eventually eliminating the need for laparoscopic support altogether. "This evolutionary step towards an incisionless surgical technique could reduce costs, speed recovery and reduce pain," commented Hungness, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Feinberg School. "I see incisionless approaches applying to a wide range of procedures in the future."
"We applaud the Northwestern Memorial team for successfully completing this history-making procedure," said Eugene Chen, USGI Medical's President and Chief Executive. "We're delighted to see leading medical institutions using our EndoSurgical Operating System to advance the NOTES field. This is just one of the many exciting applications of the EOS. In Bariatric surgery, for example, physicians are using the EOS to meet the growing need for an incisionless procedure that helps gastric bypass patients reverse post-surgical weight gain. We look forward to the day when the millions of patients who require abdominal operations will have an incision-free alternative to painful and invasive surgery."
In March, Columbia University Medical Center Surgeon Marc Bessler used the EOS to become the first in the U.S. to remove a woman's gall bladder through her vagina. In June, Surgeon Lee Swanstrom of Legacy Health Systems and the Oregon Clinic in Portland used the EOS to remove three patients' gall bladders through their mouths, also the first procedures of their kind performed in this country.
"Previously, our ShapeLock™ Endoscopic Guide allowed physicians to diagnose and treat conditions in areas not accessible with scopes alone. In 2007, we will see our EOS, with our ShapeLock technology, applied to a wide range of surgical procedures ranging from Obesity to Cholecystectomy," said Eugene Chen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of USGI. "Patients undergoing these 'incisionless' procedures may benefit from reduced pain, no scars and faster recovery times."
About the EndoSurgical Operating System™
USGI Medical designed the EndoSurgical Operating System™ (EOS) to enable Incisionless Surgery. The EOS offers a stable operating platform, a level view of the operating field and access for multiple surgical tools - conditions required to perform Incisionless Surgery that current endoscopic instruments never met. The FDA-cleared EOS incorporates the TransPort™ operating platform and specially-designed cutting, suturing, anchoring and tissue-grasping tools. The surgeon advances the TransPort™ into the GI tract in its flexible state and then locks it into place to conform to the patient's anatomy. The surgeon can then advance the various tools and a camera though the TransPort's four operating channels and steer the end of the device to visualize a site and operate with efficiency and precision.
About USGI Medical, Inc.
Based in San Clemente, California USGI Medical Inc, was founded in 2001 to develop the tools to enable Incisionless Surgery. Potential applications for Incisionless Surgery include procedures to treat Obesity, GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) and GI Cancer as well as NOTES (Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery). USGI Medical's flagship EndoSurgical Operating System™ (EOS) gives surgeons a stable operating platform and surgical tools to manipulate, cut, and suture tissue using only the natural body orifices for access.