Surgerii

 Since its establishment in 2014, Zhongguancun enterprise Beijing Surgerii Technology Co has been developing a "single/multi-port modular endoscopic surgery robot".  The company started commercial operation in 2017, and Surgerii has successfully developed various models of endoscopic surgical robot systems. 

"With this device, a surgeon, guided by stereoscopic high-definition images in a 3D display, can direct various surgical tools to complete precise and minimally invasive procedures. 

Surgerii is a Zhongguancun technology enterprise devoted to the independent research and development, production and sales of a new-generation robot-assisted endoscopic surgery system, and formulation of a fully intelligent operation plan that combines preoperative planning, intraoperative procedures and postoperative management. 

The new-generation surgery system allows both single-port and multi-port operations, which can improve surgical precision and alleviate doctors' fatigue.

According to an R&D engineer of Surgerii, the reason why the surgical robot can complete so meticulous an operation is that Surgerii has made a breakthrough in the research of multi-backbone continuum mechanisms, i.e. "precision operation of endoscopic surgery"."

"The Surgerii team presents a solution in the dual continuum mechanism (DCM), in which the proximal and distal segments can bend in opposite directions, and the distal segments, or the tip, are driven by pushing and pulling dozens of super elastic thin nitinol rods. This has led to a 8mm-diameter manipulator strong enough to lift 500 grams, while dexterous enough to peel the shell from a quail egg without damaging the membrane inside.

With the arrangement of the nitinol rods, the DCM also features actuation modularity with enhanced reliability. Such a design allows the surgical manipulator to be inserted through single or separate ports flexibly, allowing for both multi-port and single-port procedures.

Surgerii’s resulting platform consists of a surgeon console, an equipment cart, and four modular patient-side carts, each driving a surgical manipulator or a stereo high-dimension endoscope. Each surgical manipulator has six degrees of freedom, and the patient-side carts remain totally stationary during surgery, eliminating risk of collision between manipulators.

Critical to this success is Surgerii’s partnership with the General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army (PLAGH), a large health-care hub integrating medical care, education and research. Housing 125 clinical, medical and technological departments, 4,200 beds, numerous top-level professionals, and state-of-the-art equipment, this top-tier hospital has more than 4.9 million outpatient visits and conducts 90,000 operations annually. Intent on being a surgical innovator, PLAGH has performed thousands of robot-assisted surgeries, led by its clinical professors, Rong Liu and Jiangping Gao.

Working with PLAGH, animal studies on Surgerii’s surgical platform have been carried out using different trocars and accessories. Urologic, cardiothoracic, gynaecologic and general surgeries were successfully performed on porcine model under teleoperation, guided by the stereo visual feedback from the endoscope. “The future of this versatile technology is promising,” said Liu"

The robot was showcased  during the World Robot Conference (WRC) 2019 at Beijing Etrong International Exhibition and Convention Center on August 21, 2019."

Source: Nature Research