"Our development of this single-port technology represents our foundational commitment to advancing tools for minimally invasive surgery," Intuitive Surgical President/CEO Gary Guthart said.
Intuitive's da Vinci Sp technology is a dedicated single-port innovation designed to deliver an articulating 3-D high-definition camera and three fully articulating instruments through a single 25-millimeter cannula. The fully wristed EndoWrist Sp Instruments have two more degrees of freedom than the da VinciSingle-Site Instruments, which are not wristed and are used in single port surgeries, the company noted. The surgeon controls the instruments and endoscope while seated at the da Vinci Surgical System console.
Intuitive Surgical is not commercializing the da Vinci Sp system until the current technology is engineered to be fully compatible with the newly cleared da Vinci Xi Surgical System, currently projected for the second half of 2015. This will require product refinements, supply chain optimization and additional regulatory clearances.
The Da Vinci Xi has longer instrument shafts, enabling greater reach for surgery. The robotic arms of the system also are smaller and thinner and have a new joint design that improves their range of motion. The system also includes an overhead instrument arm design providing surgeons anatomical access from most of the positions.
The new da Vinci Xi System has "broader capabilities than prior generations of the da Vinci System. It can be used across a wide spectrum of minimally invasive surgical procedures and has been optimized for complex, multi-quadrant surgeries," the company said in a statement.
The new system was designed "with the goal of further advancing the technology used in minimally invasive surgery for complex diseases and conditions in gynecology, urology, thoracic, cardiac, and general surgery."
Compared to prior systems, key features of the new da Vinci Xi System include a new overhead instrument arm architecture designed to facilitate anatomical access from virtually any position, the company said.
"The da Vinci Xi System's new overhead architecture means that multi-quadrant surgery can be performed without repositioning the system, an innovation long sought by surgeons who perform complex procedures," Guthart explained.