RBOT
Starting to move. Must be a small float.
This is SOOOO COOL - Has to hit 20/20 or something!!
Was as high as 17 this year.
Wednesday December 9, 8:01 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
First Robotically Assisted Heart Bypass Surgery Successfully Performed in the United States
Computer Motion's ZEUS Robotic Surgical System Enables Suturing
On the Heart to be Performed Through Tiny Incisions,
a Critical Step Toward Closed-Heart Bypass Surgery
Computer Motion Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:RBOT - news), the world leader in medical robotics, Wednesday announced the successful completion of the first robotically assisted heart bypass surgery performed at Penn State Geisinger Health System's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
The coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure was performed as part of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) Phase One study using the ZEUS Robotic Surgical System.
Ralph J. Damiano Jr., M.D., chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Hershey Medical Center, completed the procedure on a 70 year-old female patient using the ZEUS Robotic Surgical System, marking the first use of a robotic system to assist with heart surgery in the United States.
The ZEUS System enabled Damiano to perform delicate and critical suturing on the heart through tiny incisions. This provides a much less invasive approach to conventional open-heart surgery, which now requires a lengthy incision and splitting open the patient's breast bone to give surgeons access to the heart.
The completion of this initial heart bypass operation demonstrates that Computer Motion's ZEUS Robotic Surgical System can successfully assist a surgeon in performing delicate maneuvers such as suturing tiny coronary vessels through small pencil-sized incisions.
In the United States alone, more than 400,000 CABG procedures are performed annually, the vast majority of which currently require the full 12- to 15-inch chest incision. Eliminating the large incision should provide the benefits of significantly reduced patient pain and trauma, shorter recovery times and convalescent periods, and overall improved outcome.
Damiano said: ''We have been working with the ZEUS System here at Penn State University for nearly two years and have completed several acute and chronic pre-clinical studies. Yesterday's procedure was the appropriate next step for our clinical team in using the ZEUS System to develop safe, effective and reproducible closed-chest procedures for the heart.
''The ZEUS System allowed me to precisely suture the CABG. In the near future, we expect to take the next step and perform completely closed-chest heart surgery.''
According to Yulun Wang, Ph.D., chief technical officer and founder of Computer Motion: ''A completely closed-chest approach to heart surgery has not been possible with conventional minimally invasive surgical instruments because the delicate task of suturing a bypass-graft to a coronary artery through small incisions is beyond human capabilities.
''The ZEUS Robotic Surgical System enhances a surgeon's hands much like a microscope enhances a surgeon's eyes. This enhancement gives the surgeon the extra precision and dexterity necessary to perform these very delicate procedures without having to crack the patient's chest wide open.
''We are very pleased that the FDA has examined our clinical data and has allowed us to move forward to prove the merits of this concept,'' Wang concluded.
Three leading cardiac surgeons, all key members of the ZEUS development effort as well as participants in the ZEUS pre-clinical trials, attended the procedure: Chandra Mullangi, M.D. (Medical City of Dallas); and Thomas Kelly, M.D., and Harold Tabaie, M.D. (both of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota, Fla).
According to Tabaie: ''We have performed over a dozen cadaver trials at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and have validated that we can reach all regions of the heart in closed-chest surgery using the ZEUS System. These initial cases at Hershey Medical Center are an important first step in demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of this technology within the clinical setting.
''We look forward to bringing these new minimally invasive cardiac procedures to our patients in Sarasota in the near future.''
Robert W. Duggan, chairman and CEO for Computer Motion, said: ''Endoscopic CABG procedures obviously offer significant patient benefits. This approach promises to enhance the long-term outcome of open-heart CABG without the significant trauma associated with splitting the patient's sternum.
''We believe that these procedures are a significant step forward in bringing a completely endoscopic solution to heart surgery for our society at large. Heart bypass patients are focused on intensity of pain, duration of pain and the convalescent time required for their return to normal living. Surgeon plus ZEUS holds great promise of solution in this regard.''
Computer Motion's ZEUS Robotic Surgical System consists of three interactive robotic arms placed at the operating table, a computer controller and an ergonomic surgeon console. One robotic arm is used to position the endoscope (a special, slender camera) to provide visualization of the operative site while the other two robotic arms manipulate surgical instruments under the surgeon's direct control.
While seated at the console, the surgeon can view the operative site in either 3-D or 2-D, depending on their preference. The surgeon controls the movements of the endoscope with simple spoken commands. Movements of the surgical instruments are controlled via handles that resemble conventional surgical instruments.
The movements of the instrument handles are scaled and tremor is filtered such that the surgeon will be able to perform fully endoscopic, minimally invasive microsurgery.
Computer Motion develops, manufactures and markets proprietary robotic and computerized surgical systems for the operating room. The company's mission is to enhance surgeons' capabilities, improve outcomes and reduce costs using computers and robotics.
The company currently markets AESOP, a surgical robot capable of positioning an endoscope in response to a surgeon's verbal commands, and has made initial shipments of the HERMES Control Center, a centralized control and operating system designed to control an integrated network of ''smart'' operating room devices through a surgeon's voice commands.
The company continues to leverage the core technologies underlying the AESOP family of products to develop the ZEUS Robotic Surgical System for new minimally invasive microsurgery procedures such as endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting (E-CABG).
Computer Motion is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the stock symbol RBOT. The company's Internet Web site is www.ComputerMotion.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements concerning the company's business, products, and research and development activities. Actual results may differ materially depending on a number of risk factors, including: the risks of competition and competing technologies; duration or suspension of pre-clinical and clinical studies; regulatory approvals; and physician, hospital and payor acceptance of the company's new products. These factors and other risks inherent in the company's business are described from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 1997, as well as its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for 1998. The company undertakes no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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Contact:
Computer Motion Inc., Santa Barbara
Stephen L. Wilson, 805/968-9600 ext. 155
Holley Malia, 805/968-9600 ext. 179
or
Hershey Medical Center
Leilyn Perri, 717/531-8604
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