Medical Microinstruments (MMI) recently announced the completion of a preclinical study that demonstrated the feasibility of the Symani surgical system in neurosurgical procedures. Adnan Siddiqui (Jacobs Institute, Buffalo, USA) successfully repaired a blood vessel in the brain in an animal model using the system, in what an MMI press release describes as the first such robotic-assisted microsurgery demonstration in the brain.
“Dr Siddiqui’s breakthrough demonstration showed the benefits of robotic precision and control when operating on brain tissue,” said Mark Toland, chief executive officer of MMI. “The robotic platform allowed him to perform extremely delicate manoeuvres deep in the skull cavity that would not have been possible with the human hand alone. The success of this procedure opens the possibility of expanding Symani’s reach into neurosurgery—a field of medicine that involves the most fragile anatomy and has yet to benefit from robotic-assisted microsurgical capabilities.”
The study aimed to both collect feedback on Symani from a highly experienced neurosurgeon and assess the feasibility of the platform as a tool to treat neurological conditions. It was performed at the Jacobs Institute, which is a non-profit medical device innovation centre that aims to accelerate the development of next-generation technologies in vascular medicine.
“Symani offered added control that allowed me to access and repair a vein just under 1mm in diameter, with clips spaced 4mm apart,” said Siddiqui. “It required techniques that would be extraordinarily difficult for most micro-neurosurgeons to replicate without robotic assistance, using sutures so small they are barely visible to the naked eye. Based on this excellent initial experience, I have no doubt Symani could be highly effective during a wide range of complex neurosurgical procedures with the development of additional microsurgical tools. In fact, I believe it is ready for superficial temporal to middle cerebral artery bypass surgery today.”
The Symani surgical system is designed to provide enhanced precision and control for the anastomosis and suturing of microscopic vessels with the thinnest available sutures. With—according to MMI—the “world’s smallest surgical robotic wrist”, called NanoWrist, Symani enables surgeons to replicate the natural movements of the human hand at the micro scale. It also features motion-scaling technology that reduces the hand’s scale of movement by as much as 20 times, giving surgeons more freedom to operate on microscopic anatomy.
Surgeons have leveraged the Symani surgical system in more than 1,000 cases globally, and more than two dozen publications highlight positive clinical outcomes with the technology. It is designed to help restore quality of life for patients, accelerate the number of surgeons able to push the boundaries of complex procedures for delicate anatomy, and enable hospitals to expand their open surgical programmes.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted de novo classification to the Symani surgical system in April 2024, making it the only commercially available platform in the USA for reconstructive microsurgery, MMI claims. It is also available for commercial use in Europe and parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
