Endoscopic Magnetic Retractors
Principal Investigator: Matthew Y.C. Lin, MD
Challenge
Surgical endoscopy utilizes natural orifices to access the organ of interest and enables complex procedures to be performed without an incision. Such procedures decrease postoperative pain and minimize the risk of injuring surrounding organs. While this approach offers the benefit of being minimally invasive, the size and placement of the endoscope restricts operative range of motion and limits the types of instruments available to surgeons. Currently, all endoscopic tools utilize the channels of the endoscope itself to gain access and manipulate tissue. The channels prohibit the basic operative principal of “triangulation.”
Solution
To address these limitations, our team is developing an endoscopic grasping device that is deployed onto the tissue of interest via standard endoscopic techniques, but can retract independent of the movement of the endoscopic itself, creating a significantly greater range of motion. This technology has the potential to advance surgical endoscopy and enable more complex procedures to be done endoscopically.
Funding
Honors & Awards
Surgical Innovations Accelerator (Spring 2015)
Publications
- “Lowering the Barriers of Surgical Endoscopy by Improving Tissue Retraction with an Articulating Endoscopic Retractor.” Authors: Neil Ray, Dillon Kwiat, Stanley Rogers, Matthew Lin. Presented at the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeon 2016 Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March 16, 2016
- Ray N, Kwiat D, Rogers S, Lin M. Lowering the Barriers of Surgical Endoscopy with a Novel Articulating Retractor. J Med Devices. (in press)