一系列用于腹腔鏡外科手術的器械套件，是供單次使用的手工操作器械，具有六度關節范圍的自由度.這些設備已經獲得了美國食品藥品管理局的許可.

這些工具套件包括:夾子、解剖器、針筒、剪刀,能夠幫助外科醫生在胃旁路手術、心臟旁路手術、肺葉切除術,以及其它普通或者泌尿科手術的時候,進行創傷性較小的操作.這套EndoLink系統增強了外科醫生解剖上進入以及控制的設備,而使用傳統直接腹腔鏡設備是無法達到這一目標的.

開發這種新型工具套件的Novare外科系統公司總裁兼首席執行官Kerry Pope解釋說:“我們的新系統能夠被裝配在只有3毫米大小的設備中,能夠象人手腕一樣活動自如.這給了外科醫生更多的控制與進入體內的能力,能夠進行創傷性很小的手術.”

與傳統腹腔鏡設備只能提供4度自由度(上/下,左/右,旋轉,進/出)不同,這種EndoLink設備還具有將手腕左/右以及上/下移動的功能.這種額外的2個方向的自由度減少了操作的復雜性,縮短了學習高通量微創手術的曲線.

美國亞特蘭大Piedmont醫院胸外科醫生William Mayfield醫生說:"EndoLink將外科醫生的手腕放進了胸腔之中,整合進EndoLink系統的設備操作方便、直觀、可以測量,使得外科醫生能夠直接進行內鏡操作,而不管他或者她以前是否操作過傳統設備."【本文由美迪醫療網成揚編譯】

Tools for Laparoscopic Surgery
 
A family of surgical instruments for laparoscopic use are single-use handheld instruments that incorporate six degrees of articulating freedom. The instruments have been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The set comprises a grasper, dissector, needle drive, and scissors that enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive approaches in gastric bypass, cardiac bypass, pulmonary lobectomy, and other general and urologic procedures. This EndoLink system offers a surgeon enhanced anatomical access and device control not available with traditional straight laparoscopic instruments.

“Our novel system can be incorporated into instruments as small as 3 mm and enable articulation similar to a human wrist. This gives the surgeon greater control and access that can provide important gains in minimally invasive surgery,” explained Kerry Pope, president and CEO of Novare Surgical Systems, Inc. (Cupertino, CA, USA), which developed the new set of tools.

Unlike traditional endoscopic instruments that feature four degrees of freedom (up/down, left/right, rotation, and in/out actuation), the EndoLink instruments also feature the ability to move the wrist left/right and up/down. These additional two degrees of freedom enable a whole new class of minimally invasive procedures and can significantly reduce the complexity and shorten the learning curve of a number of high-volume minimally invasive procedures.

“The EndoLink places the surgeon’s wrist inside the chest,” stated William Mayfield, M.D., thoracic surgeon at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta (GA, USA). “Instruments that incorporate the EndoLink system are easy to use, intuitive, scalable, and allow the surgeon to perform endoscopically directed maneuvers that he or she could never perform before with conventional instruments.”