Equinox Surgical Solutions has launched SutureAssist, designed and developed by a minimally invasive, board certified surgeon Warren Volker and his team to improve patient and surgical team safety.
The proprietary device lets surgeons and scrub techs acquire, hand-off, dispose of and reload sutures with an one-handed motion resulting in wound closure and mitigation of both needle-stick risk to the surgical team and post-op needle management liability exposure.
Equinox calculates that SutureAssist can save on average $65 per minute by streamlining the suture management procedure in the operating rooms leading to a annual cost reduction for the health care facility.
Equinox said that the SutureAssist serves as a needle park and dispenser and will accommodate up to five Ethicon multi-pack suture trays, which when depleted are easily ejected through an ejection port on the side of the device without techs having to put down their needle drivers.
SutureAssist also features a foam needle trap that ensures all used sutures can be efficiently accounted for at the end of a procedure.
Equinox Surgical Solutions executive vice president Joe Petralia said that some of their clients have even seen a 30% reduction in operative time based on maintaining the pace and the rhythm of the surgery without interruption.
“Most importantly, because of its focus on safety and best practices, health care facilities can expect quantifiable cost containment through reduced liability exposure and a decrease in malpractice incidents with the use of SutureAssist,” Petralia said.