PROGRESS ON THE MINIMALLY INVASIVE FRONT
Olympus Platform Advances LESSOlympus' newest advanced technology platform allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive, Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site (LESS) surgery through the umbilicus (bellybutton). The platform combines existing Olympus endoscopic and laparoscopic technology with the new TriPort™ access system (manufactured by Advanced Surgical Concepts) to perform abdominal surgery though just one incision in the bellybutton. While traditional laparoscopic surgery offers benefits like less pain, faster recovery time and improved cosmesis over open surgery, this single-site surgery has the potential to extend these benefits even further.
Along with the TriPort, the Olympus LESS platform includes the unique, 5 mm, deflectable-tip EndoEYE®, which features the high-resolution camera on the endoscope's distal end.
Dr. Sharona Ross, assistant professor of surgery at Tampa General Hospital, has performed a number of LESS procedures utilizing this advanced technology platform. "This procedure (LESS) is nearly impossible to do without the Olympus EndoEYE, which provides an exceptional digital image while being small and flexible enough to maneuver with other instruments in a small space," explains Ross.
Other Olympus technologies useful in LESS surgery include the EVIS EXERA II® universal platform, featuring both Narrow Band Imaging (NBI™) and HDTV, HiQ+ Hand Instruments™ and the Gyrus ACMI PK Technology platform for grasping and dissecting tissue, and the SonoSurg® Ultrasonic Surgical System, which coagulates blood as it cuts tissue.
