J U N E 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 1
TransEnterix
Senhance Surgical
Robotic System
FDA approval appears
imminent for the first
surgical robot that
could challenge the
dominance of da Vinci,
says TransEnterix,
which drew a large
crowd at its booth.
(TransEnterix filed for FDA 510(k) clear-
ance shortly after the conference ended.)
The price remains to be seen, but a less
expensive alternative would be welcome,
since "the da Vinci is too expensive for
99.99% of surgery centers," says Dr. Towfigh.
The Senhance, which has been cleared for use in urology, gynecol-
ogy, general surgery and thoracic surgery in several European coun-
tries, uses fully reusable instrumentation — instruments that can be
autoclaved, "so it can be used again and again, and the per-case cost
is very much like laparoscopy," says a company rep.
From the user's standpoint, it offers some interesting advanced fea-
tures, including haptic feedback, which is designed to help surgeons
"feel" how much pressure they're applying. (But "the haptic feedback
feels more like a generic jolt than a sense of touching hard versus soft
tissue," says Dr. Towfigh.) Additionally, the camera is controlled by the
surgeon's eyes, so it senses where the surgeon is looking and adjusts its
focus in concert with that movement. There's also an open-source plat-
form for visualization, so it can use different types of cameras.
