World’s First Robotic-Assisted Scarfree Colorectal Surgery Successfully Completed with Medrobotics Flex Robotic System at George Washington University Hospital

Medrobotics Corp., a medical robotics company, announced that Dr. Vincent Obias, Director of Robotics and Professor of Colorectal Surgery at the George Washington University Hospital, successfully completed the world’s first colorectal surgery with the Flex Robotic System. Dr. Obias removed a suspected cancerous lesion from the rectum of an adult man in a procedure requiring no incision through the skin. The Flex Robotic System is now the world’s first robotic surgical platform providing Scarfree access to hard-to-reach anatomy in otolaryngology and colorectal procedures.

“Until now, robotic-assisted colorectal surgery required multiple incisions through the abdomen because straight, rigid robotic tools were not designed to navigate the twists and turns of the human gastrointestinal system,” said Samuel Straface, Ph.D., President and CEO of Medrobotics. “These procedures can result in complications, pain and scarring. The Flex Robotic System was designed to enable Scarfree robotic-assisted access to cancer and other lesions in the rectum and distal colon, following a path directly through the anus.”

According to Dr. Obias, “The Flex Robotic System is the first robotic platform that allows surgeons to visualize and access lesions in the rectum with a steerable and shapeable robotic scope and flexible instruments. This offers some patients the opportunity to be treated with fewer incisions and may result in reduced complications and faster recoveries.”

The award-winning Flex Robotic System has been widely recognized for advances in surgical robotic technology, including Best-in-Show at the 2016 Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) and a Best New Product at the 2017 Edison Awards. The mobility and short learning curve of the Flex Robotic System offer the promise of scheduling flexibility and efficiency not seen with other surgical systems. Patients who seek care from hospitals with comprehensive robotics programs that include the Flex^® Robotic System may enjoy the best chance for the least invasive and most effective treatments of their condition.