A new robotic surgical platform provides access to difficult-to-access anatomies in colorectal procedures, offering treatment options that may be impossible with straight and rigid instruments.

The Medrobotics Flex System is a highly articulated, multi-body endoscope for minimally invasive surgical procedures (CMI) that replace and open surgical procedures for many parts of the anatomy that are difficult or impossible to achieve. The handling of the endoscope is obtained thanks to numerous mechanical links with concentric mechanisms; Each mechanism can be placed in a rigid or loose state. By using a patented movement strategy, alternating these states, the endoscope can be directed to any shape through the relative orientations of its links.

The system design provides a cost-effective, no-linear, robot-assisted surgical platform for situations where conventional line-of-sight technologies are not feasible or offer suboptimal results. An assistive platform includes a built-in high definition (HD) vision system and contains multiple channels of open devices that accept a variety of patented Flex instruments, 3mm, coupled or surgical and interventional instruments from third parties. The Flex system is a product of Medrobotics (Raynham, MA, USA) and has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“The human gastrointestinal system is full of twists and turns, and rigid surgical robots were not designed to operate in that environment; The robotic Flex system, yes. Two years ago, Medrobotics began to revolutionize the treatment of the head and neck. Now we can start doing that in colorectal procedures, “said Samuel Straface, PhD, executive director of Medrobotics. “US hospitals, surgeons and patients will enjoy the benefits of the world’s only flexible surgical robotic platform. It will easily integrate into hospitals because of its mobility and short learning curve. ”

“The Flex Robotic System offers the promise of treating transreally selected colorectal patients with a more consistent and easier method because it exceeds the limits of straight surgical instrumentation,” said Professor Alessio Pigazzi, PhD, of the University of California In Irvine; UCI; USA). “Medrobotics opens the first of a new generation of manoeuvrable and robotic surgical systems that offer the potential to reduce the invasiveness of surgical procedures for more patients.”