Dr. Norio Fukami and his group on the Mayo Clinic have a good time their first process with the ELS System. Supply: EndoQuest
EndoQuest Robotics Inc. stated a surgeon on the Mayo Clinic has efficiently accomplished a robotic process as a part of its Potential Evaluation of a Robotic Assisted System in Gastrointestinal Drugs, or PARADIGM, Trial. The trial is a multicenter examine supposed to guage the corporate’s Endoluminal Surgical System to be used in decrease gastrointestinal observe procedures.
Dr. Norio Fukami efficiently accomplished an endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) utilizing the Endoluminal Surgical (ELS) System to take away a posh colorectal lesion measuring 4 cm (1.5 in.) in dimension. He’s a professor of drugs and director of Therapeutic Endoscopy and Interventional Gastrointestinal (GI) Endoscopy Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Fukami carried out the ESD process as a part of a U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational System Exemption (IDE) pivotal trial.
“The machine was instinctive and simple to make use of, enabling dynamic traction and counter-traction of surgical approach, and made a posh process that may historically be rather more difficult really feel comparatively easy,” stated Dr. Fukami.
“This expertise represents a monumental shift in our potential to carry out ESD and different superior endoluminal therapies,” he added. “For the primary time, we’re outfitted with a real surgeon’s ‘second hand’ that makes these procedures extra pure and reproducible, with the potential to considerably scale back sufferers’ and physicians’ burden.”
EndoQuest stated that Fukami is a world-renowned knowledgeable in ESD and different endoluminal and pancreaticobiliary strategies. He was additionally an editor for the primary English textbook on ESD.
EndoQuest stated its PARADIGM surgical system presents flexibility, superior instrumentation, and an ergonomic design. | Supply: EndoQuest Robotics
EndoQuest hopes to assist sufferers keep away from invasive procedures
ESD has emerged as an efficient remedy possibility for early lesions within the GI tract. It has enabled many sufferers to keep away from invasive surgical procedures equivalent to colectomies, stated EndoQuest.
Regardless of these advantages, ESD and different superior endoluminal therapies are technically difficult with steep studying curves, the Houston firm acknowledged. That is due largely to the inherent limitations of ordinary versatile endoscopes and instrumentation, it famous.
EndoQuest stated it designed its system to make superior endoluminal procedures simpler to study and carry out. The ELS System permits surgical duties and maneuvers not presently attainable in superior therapeutic endoscopy, the corporate asserted.
Pre-clinical knowledge offered by Brigham and Girls’s Hospital at Digestive Illness Week (DDW) in 2024 and 2025 demonstrated that the ELS System considerably reduces the educational curve in comparison with typical strategies for ESD and full-thickness defect closure amongst novice gastroenterologists.
“Therapeutic endoscopy represents one of many fastest-growing areas inside drugs,” acknowledged Dr. Todd Wilson, chief medical officer and chairman of the Worldwide Advisory Board of EndoQuest Robotics. “With a larger than 50% enhance within the variety of superior endoscopy fellowship packages over the previous decade, there may be clearly a rising curiosity in advancing endoluminal, organ-sparing care, and our expertise is positioned to drive this therapeutic shift.”
PARADIGM Trial to proceed throughout the U.S.
The PARADIGM Trial is enrolling 50 topics throughout 5 main U.S. healthcare establishments: Brigham and Girls’s Hospital in Boston; Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland; AdventHealth in Orlando, Fla.; and HCA Healthcare in Houston. Following trial completion, EndoQuest Robotics plans to submit a De Novo request for authorization to market the ELS System within the U.S.
In July, EndoQuest closed a Collection D-2 funding spherical. The firm stated the funding will gas the development of its versatile endoluminal surgical platform, supporting the PARADIGM scientific trial.
EndoQuest stated its ELS System is an investigational machine, has not but been absolutely cleared by the FDA, and isn’t but obtainable for industrial sale within the U.S.
Editor’s be aware: Iman Jeddi, senior vice chairman and common supervisor at Intuitive Surgical, will ship a keynote at RoboBusiness 2025, which will likely be on Oct. 15 and 16 in Santa Clara, Calif. She’s going to focus on the design and launch of the da Vinci 5 surgical robotic.
RoboBusiness will likely be co-located with DeviceTalks West, the premier trade occasion for medical expertise professionals. Register now to attend.
