Medical Device Link.

Originally Published MDDI January 2004

NEWSTRENDS

The Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS; Miami) has honored four products as “Innovations of the Year.” It announced the awards at its 12th Annual Congress and Endo Expo, held in September 2003 in Las Vegas. 

The honorees are the Applied Separator Abdominal Access System from Applied Medical (Rancho Santa Marguerita, CA), the Seamguard Bioabsorbable Staple Line Reinforcement Material from W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. (Newark, DE), the EndoEye Surgical Videoscope from Olympus America Inc. (Melville, NY), and the Advanced Image and Data Archiving (AIDA) System from Karl Storz Endoscopy-America Inc. (Culver City, CA). 

According to SLS, the honors go to “the most innovative products of the past year that have a multidisciplinary application in minimally invasive surgery.” An honor does not constitute an endorsement and SLS encourages surgeons to fully investigate any new equipment before using it.

Applied’s system creates abdominal access for instrumentation during minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. Its design ensures that no secondary retaining mechanisms, which can damage the entry site, need to be used.

Gore’s material is a bioabsorbable membrane formed into a sleeve using a polyester braided suture. The company says it is the thinnest such product available and is completely resorbed within six months of surgery. 

The Olympus product is a videoscope with a miniaturized CCD chip at the distal tip, eliminating the need for fragile rod lenses. With the camera at the tip, images are processed without interruption or compromise of image quality.

The Storz system enables better archiving of patient-related text and imaging data. Images can be incorporated into patient records or scientific reports, and can be improved for brightness and contrast. 

Seven products received honorable mentions. In the multispecialty category, these went to the Susie Endoscope Defogger from Innovative Surgical Technology (Los Alamos, NM) and the Multiple Instrument Guide from LapSurgical Systems (Roswell, NM). In the education category, the nod went to the Simbionix LAP Mentor from Simbionix USA Corp. (Cleveland). In the gastrointestinal category, honorable mentions went to the Fleet Phospho-soda Accu-Prep from Fleet Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Lynchburg, VA) and the Flexible Touche Suturing System from Onux Medical Inc. (Hampton, NH). And in the gynecology category, the Essure Micro Insert from Conceptus Inc. (San Carlos, CA) and the Elevest Procedure Kit from Inlet Medical Inc. (Minneapolis) were cited.

Copyright ©2004 Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry