Insertable Robot Offers New Approach to Minimally Invasive Surgery

A collaboration between Columbia Professors Peter Allen (Computer Science, Columbia Engineering), Nabil Simaan (formerly Mechanical Engineering at Columbia, now at Vanderbilt) and Dennis Fowler (Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center) has resulted in an innovative new approach to minimally invasive surgery. They have developed a novel robotic platform for minimally invasive single-port surgery—Insertable Robotic Effector Platform (IREP)—that they say is the world's smallest in required diameter (∅15 mm) that can enter the body while enabling dual-arm-dexterous operation, 3-D visualization, and automated instrument tracking. It was recently licensed to Titan Medical, Inc. Patients prefer minimally invasive surgery because it results in smaller scars, less pain, and a quicker recovery. However, minimally invasive surgery techniques such as laparoscopy often require multiple incisions and a large team of personnel. As a result of reducing the size and scope of the instruments, the difficulty of minimally invasive procedures has increased significantly, often resulting in increased operation time and cost. The techniques are simply too complex and too costly for all surgeons and all hospitals to be able to provide them.