A new telesurgical platform – preliminary clinical results

Abstract

A new European telesurgical system, the Telelap Alf-x, is introduced. Its main features are individual arms, which enable free access to the patient throughout surgery, a large range of reusable surgical instruments, an open console with eye-tracking system, where the camera follows the eye and head movements of the surgeon, and the existing force feedback enables for the first time to feel the consistency of the tissues and avoid tearing of the stitches while suturing. The system combines the benefits of open surgery and endoscopy. The first clinical application, which involved 146 operations at the gynecological department of the Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, proved the safety and the surgical team’s quick adaptation to the system.

Key words:

• Telesurgery
• robotic surgery
• endoscopy
• force feedback
• surgery

Declaration of interest: Michael Stark is the scientific advisor of the EU’s telesurgical project.