Surgical System Delivers the Promise of Flexible Laparoscopy

The SPIDER System is a unique surgical platform that allows surgeons to introduce a camera and multiple instruments into the patient’s abdomen by way of a single incision made in the belly button, into which an 18 mm circumference platform is inserted. The system opens up umbrella-like within the abdomen, providing the surgeon with two flexible channels for right- and left-hand instruments with 360-degree range of motion, and two rigid channels for small cameras and other instruments. Once the procedure is completed, the SPIDER Surgical System closes up and is removed through the same incision.

The surgeons benefit from single site triangulation with true left and true right control over flexible, articulating instruments, as well as true-left and true-right coordination between the video camera monitor and the surgeon’s hands, allowing the surgeon to approach the operating site at the necessary angles. A range of second-generation proprietary Flex instruments are specifically designed for use with the system, which transmit force and torque via a flexible, catheter-based instrument.

Among the tools available are a wavy grasper, a Maryland dissector, shears, a suction irrigator, a fenestrated grasper, a clip applier, a mono-polar hook, a needle driver, and a low profile specimen extraction bag, which can be introduced through a 5 mm port. Created from lightweight, ripstop nylon and coated in polyurethane, the patented tissue retrieval sac is extremely strong, rupture proof, and leak resistant. The SPIDER System is a product of TransEnterix (Durham, NC, USA).

“The SPIDER platform continues to grow in popularity internationally as more surgeons utilize the system and get to appreciate firsthand the many benefits it offers them and their patients,” said Todd Pope, president and CEO of TransEnterix.

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TransEnterix