Medical researchers and engineers in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Health System craft high-tech tools for the next generation of procedures.
The goal for both of these high-tech tools is to make procedures minimally invasive
, which means a faster recovery time, less pain, and smaller scars, if any at all.
Smart Tissue Anastomosis Robot (STAR)
The first tool, STAR, represents a paradigm shift from current robotic surgical systems, which act as functional extensions of surgeons, to a “smart” system that can be programmed with a surgeon’s best practices to enhance a surgeon’s skills rather than perform entire operations.
“I compare STAR to smart power tools – it’s meant to be used only when it augments one’s ability to perform a task better,” says Peter Kim, MD, CM, PhD
, Vice President of the Sheikh Zayed Institute. “STAR allows surgeons to perform safer operations, and because it’s programmable, share their best techniques with other surgeons.”
STAR also features a versatile adapter device for modifying minimally invasive surgery tools and a user interface with three degrees of functionality: standard master-slave, supervised autonomy and automation with a “stop” option. EndoPyloric Tool
The second high-tech tool treats children with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, a condition that occurs in infants that is defined by the thickening of a valve in the small intestine, preventing food from passing from the stomach. This condition is currently treated with open abdominal or laparoscopic surgery.
The EndoPyloric tool is an inventive double-balloon catheter placed inside a patient’s body through an endoscope without an incision.
“The device enlarges the intestinal channel by approximately 30 percent,” Dr. Kim -says. “The goal is to stretch the obstruction just enough so food can pass through until the child outgrows the condition without exposing him or her to the potential complications of an invasive procedure.”
These two tools are slated to begin clinical trials within two years.
Read more from past issues of Advancing Pediatrics.