An integrated digital surgery solution comprising a next-generation surgical platform and instruments, real-time intraoperative clinical intelligence, and a secure cloud platform for applying machine learning to deliver clinical insights could usher in a new era of performance-guided surgery.

Asensus Surgical (Durham, NC, USA) is pioneering the future of surgery with its next-generation digital surgery platform, LUNA. This platform builds upon feedback gathered from over 10,000 digital laparoscopic procedures performed using their previous Senhance System. LUNA integrates advanced minimally invasive instruments, a first-of-its-kind digital connection between the surgeon and console, and cutting-edge clinical intelligence tools, all aimed at transforming surgical procedures. Central to Asensus' digital surgical solutions is the Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU), which brings real-time surgical image analytics to the operating table. This includes machine vision-driven camera control, responding to the surgeon's commands, and recognizing specific objects and locations within the surgical field. The ISU's capabilities extend to measuring anatomy, placing digital tags, enhancing surgical images, and offering Augmented Intelligence (AI)-driven camera control, thereby allowing surgeons to concentrate on critical surgical tasks.

The LUNA platform incorporates an Analytical Feature Set, including pre-operative surgical planning, which utilizes the ISU’s Augmented Intelligence for intraoperative planning and execution. It also boasts a Safety Feature Set, featuring a “no fly zone” function to identify potential hazards and prevent instruments from encroaching on designated anatomical areas during surgery. Additionally, the Training and Education Set includes telestration functionality, enhancing collaboration by enabling team members to annotate, highlight, and draw on a shared visual display of the surgical field in real time.

Asensus has also entered into a multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud. This collaboration integrates Google Cloud’s secure cloud data architecture and advanced machine learning technologies with Asensus’ Performance-Guided Surgery framework, powered by the ISU. This integration will leverage Google Cloud's data architecture to collect clinical data, offering access portals and performance dashboards for hospitals and surgeons. Moreover, Google's machine learning technology will analyze this data to extract clinical intelligence, aiding surgeons and healthcare facilities in enhancing patient outcomes and continuously refining the ISU’s software for improved intra-operative insights. Currently, the LUNA Surgical System is in the development stage and is not available for clinical use.

“Our vision is to revolutionize the way surgery is performed and ultimately the way patients are treated. To date, we have made tremendous progress evolving robotically-assisted surgery into Digital Laparoscopy with the combination of our Senhance Surgical System and the intelligent capabilities of our Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU). However, we expect more from a surgical solution,” said Anthony Fernando, President and Chief Executive Officer of Asensus. “We have firsthand knowledge, shaped by thousands of real-world procedures and years of interactions with surgeons and hospitals, of what the market needs, which is much more than just a robot. The best solution will materially reduce surgical variability and deliver improved outcomes. We are working to deliver that solution, a new era of surgery called Performance-Guided Surgery, the foundation of which will be our new LUNA Surgical System and the clinical intelligence capabilities provided to surgeons through the ongoing development of the ISU.” 

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