TransEnterix
TRXC)

It was in Jan, 2020 that TransEnterix (NYSE:TRXC) filed a 510(k) submission to add an artificial intelligence feature to its robot-assisted surgery system in which the system can automatically move the camera for a surgeon.

TransEnterix is the first company to seek FDA clearance for machine vision technology in abdominal robotic surgery

Surgeons have been able to move the camera on TransEnterix’sS enhance System via eye sensing. But the new Intelligent Surgical Unit would allow a surgeon, for example, to tag a specific instrument and instruct the system to have the camera follow the instrument wherever it goes. Anthony Fernando, the CEO of TransEnterix explains, “It’s a convenience, and also it’s a safety feature — because one of the big things in surgery is that you don’t want your instrument to leave the surgical view.” He described the camera feature as merely a first step toward what TransEnterix eventually wants to accomplish with augmented intelligence and machine vision: “The hardware is capable of a lot more. We intend to do a lot more leveraging of this hardware, get into surgical data analytics and a lot more digital technologies and interpretations of surgery as we go forward.”

Eventually, the system could have an overwatch feature in which the system utilizes scene cognition and surgical image analytics to provide a surgeon suggestions based on accumulated knowledge and experience around Senhance. “It’s time for computers to do a lot more than just hold an instrument in surgery,” Nathan says “I think our hope is that people will start to say this scrappy little company that’s been around for a while and is still fighting— it’s having kind of a Phoenix-like rise with some really unique technology that is going to leapfrog some other people and surprise them, frankly,” says Dr. AmitTrivedi, chair of surgery at Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center, thinks augmented intelligence and machine vision capabilities in robotics could transform surgery in the future. “TransEnterix is the first company to seek FDA clearance for machine vision technology in abdominal robotic surgery. Rather than simply passing a video signal to the surgeon, the Intelligent Surgical Unit for Senhance will initially have the ability to actually visualize the surgical field to guide movement and capture information,” mentions Nathan. “This technology advance is an important first step towards enabling augmented intelligence and we believe it will support continued machine vision driven advances in surgery performed with the Senhance Digital Laparoscopy Platform."

The initial features of the Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU) are designed to increase control in visualization beyond what has previously been available in digital laparoscopy or robotic surgery. The cleared Senhance System already features unique eye-tracking camera control and the new technology would enable machine vision driven control of the camera for a surgeon by responding to commands and recognizing certain objects and locations in the surgical field. The ISU hardware is also designed to be compatible with planned future augmented intelligence features such as scene cognition and surgical image analytics that are expected to continue to drive meaningful innovations in digital laparoscopy with Senhance. This Intelligent Surgical Unit will be compatible with the global installed base of Senhance Surgical Systems, and will be compatible with third-party vision systems that are currently supported by Senhance.