- The Intuitive da Vinci 5’s top design changes: ‘This is groundbreaking for robotic surgery’
- Small patients, big design challenges: Pediatric device experts guide engineers on solutions
- The biggest diabetes tech news out of ATTD 2024
- 5 things that will shape surgical robotics over the next decade
All eyes on Intuitive’s da Vinci 5
It’s hard to think of a product update with higher stakes for a device developer — and the medtech industry — than Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci 5 robotic-assisted surgery system.
All eyes are on the world’s leading surgical robotics developer as it rolls out the next generation of its flagship system after winning FDA clearance. Will the new features and long list of design changes put even more distance between surgical robotics and conventional laparoscopy? Is Intuitive advancing its technology rapidly enough to maintain or expand its lead ahead of larger device manufacturers, maturing surgical robotics developers and fast-moving startups?
As we were putting the finishing touches on this issue of Medical Design & Outsourcing and our cover story on DV5, surgeons got their hands on the system at select hospitals and the 2024 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) annual meeting. They shared positive feedback, including the observation that DV5’s design changes could shave 10 to 15 minutes off procedure times.
That’ll get the attention of doctors and hospital administrators looking for solutions to the critical healthcare staffing shortage. But there are many more surgical robotics developments coming this year, as DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi writes in his DeviceTalks Boston 2024 column this month.
Meanwhile, DeviceTalks Managing Editor Kayleen Brown convened experts from Abbott and pediatric heart centers for tips on device design for the world’s smallest, most vulnerable patients. As many of our readers know from their own experience, these devices are uniquely challenging due to children’s smaller anatomy and growing, developing bodies — but solving these challenges is immensely rewarding.
Also in this issue of Medical Design & Outsourcing, Associate Editor Sean Whooley has the latest on diabetes care technology from the International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes, including developments from Dexcom, Abbott, Roche Diabetes Care, Insulet, Medtronic and Know Labs.
Whooley has also been covering material research in hydrogels, offering three of the biggest advances that device developers need to know about. There’s more on materials in our Orthopedics department, where CytexOrtho’s CEO and co-founder shares how his startup makes absorbable hip implants to help younger patients delay or avoid full replacements.
For our standing Tubing department, I explore a renal denervation (RDN) system using alcohol to treat hypertension in the wake of Recor Medical and Medtronic’s RDN approvals using ultrasound and radiofrequency energy. And finally, in our Product Design and Development department, I spoke with Hologic about how they developed hardware and software for a de novo diagnostics system that could one day have applications beyond cervical cytology.
As always, I hope you enjoy this edition of Medical Design & Outsourcing — and thanks for reading.
– Jim Hammerand, Managing Editor
Medical Design & Outsourcing
jhammerand@wtwhmedia.com
