TransEnterix Opens Senhance Surgical System Training Center in Tokyo

TransEnterix, a Research Triangle Park medical device company that uses robotics to improve minimally invasive surgery, is establishing the first Asia-Pacific training center for the Senhance Surgical System at the Saitama Medical University International Center in Tokyo.

TransEnterixThe Senhance Surgical System is a digital laparoscopic system that provides haptic force feedback, the sense of touch, for physicians to feel the motions and vibrations that surgical instruments generate when handling delicate tissue.

“We see the establishment of a dedicated surgical training center at Saitama as an important milestone in enabling faster adoption of Senhance in minimally invasive surgery throughout the region,” said Anthony Fernando, president and chief executive officer of TransEnterix.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of clinical case procedures utilizing the Senhance System in 2020 in the Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the number of procedures in all of 2019.

The Asia-Pacific laparoscopy device market is expected to grow at a cumulative average growth rate of 8.2% from $1.26 billion in 2019 to $1.87 billion by 2024, according to Market Data Forecast, Inc.

Senhance surgical system
TransEnterix Senhance Surgical System

The Senhance System is the first and only digital laparoscopic surgical platform designed to maintain laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery standards while providing digital benefits such as haptic feedback, robotic precision, comfortable ergonomics and advanced instrumentation including 3mm micro-laparoscopic instruments, eye-sensing camera control and reusable standard instruments.

The Senhance Surgical System was approved for use by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2019. It has the broadest procedural reimbursement of any abdominal robotic surgery platform in Japan, which applies to 98 benign and malignant laparoscopic procedures across general, colorectal, gynecologic, pediatric and urologic surgeries.

“We were the first center in Japan to begin a clinical program utilizing the Senhance System to provide advanced digital surgical technology in treating our patients, and have grown our clinical expertise using the system in multiple surgical disciplines,” said Isamu Koyama, Ph.D., senior managing director of Saitama Medical University. “This training center will allow surgeons from throughout Japan and the region to collaborate and develop their skills on the Senhance System as they begin utilizing this technology in their own institutions.”

Kelly Duffort, NCBiotech Writer
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