CALCI, Italy– Medical Microinstruments (MMI) SpA, a robotics company dedicated to improving clinical outcomes for patients undergoing microsurgery, announced today the University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Division of Plastic and Hand Surgery, successfully completed its first cases using the Symani® Surgical System. Prof. Nicole Lindenblatt, M.D. performed a lymph node transfer and lymphovenous anastomosis (LVA), a novel and challenging supermicrosurgical procedure intended to improve the patient’s lymphedema by allowing outflow of lymphatic fluid through residual lymphatic channels.
“Empowering surgeons with additional precision and dexterity through robotics has tremendous potential to evolve how effectively we treat a range of conditions,” said Mark Toland, Chief Executive Officer of MMI. “Prof. Lindenblatt’s procedure marks a milestone in improving treatment for lymphedema, a disease state with lengthy and burdensome effects on patients. As additional hospitals adopt the Symani Surgical System and enhance their supermicrosurgical techniques, they will offer patients new treatment possibilities for conditions that are a challenge to address by hand.”
The University Hospital Zurich, the No. 2-ranked hospital in Switzerland and No. 12 hospital in the world according to a recent poll in Newsweek, installed the Symani Surgical System in July to enhance its lymphatic surgery program. About 250 million people in the world suffer from some form of lymphedema, which is characterized by excess lymphatic fluid causing swelling in the arms or legs.
The Symani Surgical System is designed to repair anatomical structures such as blood vessels, nerves and lymphatic ducts that may be as small as 0.3mm in diameter. The Symani Surgical System has been shown to reduce the occurrence of thrombosis by 50 percent in preclinical studies by mitigating hand tremor and scaling movements up to 20X. The Symani Surgical System received CE Mark in 2019 and is intended for free-flap reconstructions, replantations, congenital malformations, peripheral nerve repairs, lymphatic surgeries and more.
