AiBo Pan-Vascular Interventional Robot Successfully Completes Bifurcation Lesion Animal Surgery

2023-07-14101

Recently,  the internationally renowned cardiovascular expert and  Director of  Cardiology at Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan  University,  Academician Ge Junbo, successfully completed a coronary  intervention  bifurcation lesion animal experiment using the pan-vascular   interventional surgical robotfrom   Shenzhen AiBo Medical Robot Co., Ltd. The aiboAngio pan-vascular   interventional surgical robot is designed to be applicable to various   coronary lesion interventions. The successful completion of this   bifurcation lesion animal experiment demonstrates the aiboAngio’s   outstanding capability in handling complex coronary lesions.


Before the animal experiment began, Academician Ge Junbo led team  members Professor Shen Li and Professor Pei Zhiqiang in a thorough  discussion with the team from AiBo Medical Robot Co. about the stage  progress of product development and the animal experiment. Academician  Ge shared his deep insights into the development direction of vascular  interventional surgical robots: “Starting from the ultimate clinical  needs, based on a solid foundational design framework, and integrating  current developments in AI, imaging technology, and smart sensors, we  aim to create a high-level homogenized pan-vascular intervention tool  that can benefit more patients.”


Academician Ge believes that the aiboAngio has made significant  explorations in terms of controllability, instrument compatibility, and  the extendability of surgical strategies. He looks forward to using this  foundation to achieve deep integration of medical and engineering  fields in the innovative medical device sector and to develop leading  products in the vascular interventional surgical robot industry.  Finally, he stated that the earlier animal experiments and clinical  trials of AiBo Medical Robot have proven its excellent performance.  Whether it can complete more complex coronary interventions will be  tested throughout the full process of coronary bifurcation lesion  intervention treatment.


In the animal experiment laboratory, the staff swiftly completed the  robot setup and pre-operative preparations for the experimental pig  following the clinical surgery process, and then Academician Ge  officially began the surgery.


Once the surgery started, Academician Ge first controlled AiBo’s  unique manipulator, quickly advancing a mudfish guide wire (180 cm) and a  guide catheter (SAL 0.75) to the left coronary ostium of the  experimental pig’s heart for angiography and position adjustment. Then, a  technician installed the first PTCA micro-wire (Terumo Runthrough NS,  0.014in) as the main branch wire at the distal end. Academician Ge  continued to operate the robot from the control room, sending the PTCA  micro-wire to the distal end of the left anterior descending (main  branch), and along the wire, a balloon-expandable stent (coronary  rapamycin-eluting cobalt-based alloy stent system, 2.75 mm*18 mm) was  positioned so that the stent’s rear end covered the ostium of the  diagonal branch (side branch). After confirming the positioning with  angiography, the stent was successfully released in one go. The entire  procedure, from guide catheter introduction to stent positioning and  release, took about 15 minutes.


After the stent implantation, a second PTCA micro-wire (Terumo  Runthrough NS, 0.014in) was installed as the side branch wire by the  technician, and Academician Ge continued to operate the robot, threading  the side branch micro-wire through the stent struts into the diagonal  branch. To verify the robot-assisted operation’s precision and  repeatability, Academician Ge withdrew and reinserted the wire through  the stent struts, successfully threading it each time. Then, a balloon  catheter (PTCA balloon dilatation catheter, 2.0 mm*20 mm) was advanced  along this wire into the diagonal branch, positioned at the near end of  the branch, and confirmed with angiography before completing the balloon  expansion of the side branch. This segment of the operation took less  than 10 minutes.


Following the smooth completion of these surgical procedures,  Academician Ge fully affirmed the controllability of the AiBo  pan-vascular surgery robot and proposed using the robot to attempt a  double-balloon kissing technique, timing the procedure again to repeat  the sequence and verify the machine’s repeatability. In coronary  intervention surgery, implementing the double-balloon kissing technique  is a basic technology when opting for a dual stent implantation strategy  for treating bifurcation lesions. Academician Ge controlled the AiBo  pan-vascular surgery robot to send the main branch wire to the distal  end of the left anterior descending, and after pre-dilation at the stent  site, the main branch balloon was also positioned at the distal end of  the left anterior descending; the side branch wire was smoothly threaded  through the stent struts into the diagonal branch, and the side branch  balloon catheter was positioned at the near end of the branch,  completing the pre-dilation. Finally, the main branch balloon was  withdrawn, and the kissing balloons were completed. The entire process  was executed seamlessly in just 22 minutes!


This animal experiment smoothly demonstrated the use of the AiBo  pan-vascular interventional robot for treating coronary bifurcation  lesions, verifying that the aiboAngio operates simply, with high  surgical efficiency and safety. It also proved the aiboAngio’s powerful  capability in handling complex coronary lesions, suitable for various  coronary lesion interventions.


After the surgery, Academician Ge Junbo fully recognized the many  innovative points of the AiBo product that hold independent intellectual  property rights and encouraged the AiBo team to seize the opportunity  to strive to become the “definers” of the vascular interventional  surgical robot industry. He expressed that he and his team would  continue to support the further development of AiBo Medical Robots,  jointly developing vascular interventional surgical robots that provide  high-quality, standardized treatment services for patients.


Since its establishment, AiBo Medical Robots has reached a  cooperation intention with the team of Academician Ge Junbo, Director of  Cardiology at Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital, and in December 2022, the  two parties achieved strategic cooperation on “joint development of  pan-vascular interventional surgical robots” and held a grand launch  ceremony. Both sides will rely on the National Center for Clinical  Research on Radiation and Treatment to conduct deep medical-engineering  collaboration in product design, development, animal experiments, and  clinical registration, promoting the development of the vascular  interventional surgical robot industry.


 





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