The Bitrack system

 

Rob Surgical Systems, a spin-off of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), has begun tests  to validate the Bitrack System  (http://robsurgical.com/bitrack.html) , a robot for minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. The robot was designed under the medical supervision of Dr. Javier Magriña, a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic (Arizona, USA) who has extensive experience with the da Vinci surgical robot, and technical supervision of Dr. Josep Amat, UPC professor and head of robotics at the Biomedical Engineering Research Center (CREB). Josep Amat explains that they have created a surgical robot “with top specialists in Catalonia and the United States”, designed to cover current weakness in laparoscopic surgery, like for example the systems’ lack of flexibility and modularity and set-up time. The prototype for the robot is already finished in terms of technology and will soon move into the clinical validation phase in order to gain approval for the European and US markets. The validation process will take place at the El Prat de Llobregat facilities of Specific Pig, a company offering comprehensive services for biomedical research specializing in model pigs. Specific Pig integrates breeding of genetically selected pigs with clinical laboratory services, operating rooms, research into new surgical techniques and validation of medical devices, among others. Rob Surgical Systems expects to obtain CE marking in approximately 30 months and license it to one of the large medical technology companies. As a result of this innovation, Catalan Minister for the Economy and Knowledge Andreu Mas-Colell visited the Specific Pig facilities in El Prat de Llobregat on 6 November, getting a first-hand look at the Bitrack System."
An earlier photo shows that the engineering prototype was ready as early as Febr. 2013.

Source: BioCat, Rob Surgical   Thanks to PaoloF for the hat tip.