Toronto’s Titan Medical installed its first single-port robotic surgery system at Florida Hospital Nicholson Center and announced the completion of its first preclinical feasibility and validation studies.
Titan’s Sport Surgical System is designed to perform minimally invasive procedures via a single incision, or port. The studies completed at Florida Hospital include the world’s first gynecologic, colorectal and urologic procedures performed using the device, Titan Medical said in a statement.
The system includes a surgeon workstation with a display and controllers, as well as a surgeon-controlled patient cart with multiarticulating instruments for performing minimally invasive surgery. It provides a 3D endoscopic view inside the patient’s body during procedures.
"Under the expert guidance of renowned surgeons Dr. Ricardo Estape, Dr. Eduardo Parra-Davila and Dr. Vipul Patel, we confirmed the feasibility of single port abdominal robotic surgery with our unique multi-articulated robotic instruments and 3D high-definition visualization in a variety of surgical procedures,” said Titan CEO David McNally, in the statement.
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The company plans to install another system in the U.S. and one in Europe, where surgeons will carry out preclinical studies. It plans to file for regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe, and anticipates commercial release in 2019, McNally said on the Q4 2016 earnings call in May.
Titan has had an “arduous journey,” wrote Whalebone Advisory’s Jeremy Feffer in a note. The company has had to amend its timeline multiple times—just last year, Titan presented the Sport system to investors, aiming for a 2017 U.S. launch.
“[It] appears that the company is finally on track with the latest timeline for its single-port robotic surgery platform, which is intended for general abdominal, gynecologic, and urologic procedures,” Feffer said.