TransEnterix, a medical device company that is pioneering the use of robotics to improve minimally invasive surgery, announced that it has expanded the clinical adoption of the Senhance Robotic Surgical System to include a full range of hernia repair surgeries.
Hernia repairs represent one of the largest procedural opportunities for the Senhance. Millennium Research Group has estimated that during 2017, there will be a total of 1,080,400 hernia repair surgeries in Europe1 and 1,156,300 hernia repair surgeries in the United States2.
“Robotic hernia repair with the Senhance system represents a significant procedural area for our technology,” said Todd M. Pope, President and CEO of TransEnterix.
“Hernia repairs, both inguinal and ventral, are amongst the most common surgical procedures performed worldwide. These procedures also represent one of the fastest growing uses of robotics in surgery.
“The introduction of Senhance to provide robotic assistance in these procedures brings a system with haptic feedback and attractive procedural costs to these operations for the first time.”
St. Marien-Krankenhaus Siegen in Germany, a major hernia repair center in Germany that performs over 500 hernia repairs annually, was the first site to begin using the Senhance for unilateral and bilateral inguinal hernia repairs as well as ventral hernia repairs.
Dr. Dietmar Stephan and Prof. Dr. Frank Willeke performed up to three robotic hernia surgeries per day with the Senhance during the first weeks of its clinical use at the hospital. This allows the team to adopt Senhance to include the day’s full operating schedule.
“We are pleased to offer robotic hernia repair utilizing the Senhance Robotic System, and all our operations utilizing this advanced technology have been performed with precision, safety and efficiency. The 3D visualization and precise control of the robotic instruments and camera are very helpful during delicate surgical tasks.
“ The haptic feedback of the system is vital, and it allows me to feel the location of critical structures such as the pubic bone which aren’t always visible,” said Dr. Dietmar Stephan, Director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at St. Marien.
“The Senhance is a significant progression in the field of minimally invasive hernia repair, and allows me to fully incorporate robotics into my hernia practice without having to justify high additional procedural costs.”
TransEnterix will be exhibiting the Senhance Surgical System at two major surgical conferences: The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons in Houston, Texas which will be held March 22-25, 2017, and the Kongress Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgen, the largest general surgery meeting in Germany, in Munich being held March 21-23, 2017.
The Senhance will be available for surgeon evaluations at both events, and Dr. Dietmar Stephan will be discussing his technique of robotic hernia repair with Senhance at the German surgical meeting.