PrintBioMed Boston brings engineers and thinkers from top medical device companies together to inspire the creation of next-gen medical technology. We asked Dave Saunders, Co-founder and CTO of Galen Robotics, Inc, about his microsurgery talk during the September 28th – 29th event.
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Q&A With Dave Saunders, CTO of Galen Robotics, Inc.
Q1: Microsurgery enables faster recovery time, but what other patient benefits might not be obvious?
Dave Saunders: I think what you mean here is minimally invasive surgery. The goal for a minimally invasive surgery includes a variety of factors like reducing the amount of tissue trauma by way of smaller incisions, and that leads to a potential reduction in infection risk, less pain, and more comfort during recovery, and improved postsurgical mobility. In many cases minimally invasive surgeries result in the patients going home the same day which is a nicer experience for the patients, and a drastic cost reduction for the hospital. With or without robots in the equation, the industry trend is to move open surgeries to minimally invasive surgeries whenever possible.
Q2: What have been the biggest engineering hurdles in the development of your platform?
Dave Saunders: We sought to build a low cost platform that fit into tight spaces, where other surgical robots literally could not go. We wanted something that could be wheeled from one OR to another, and be ready to go in about 15 minutes. Because of the types of procedures we are investigating, issues like stiffness, precision and minimizing hysteresis, had to be innovated without adding a significant cost.
Q3: Is the interface a significant challenge facing surgical hardware engineers?
Dave Saunders: It really depends on the product direction itself. At Galen Robotics, we start with customer product requirements and hands-on input from the users. We figure out exactly what it is they want to do in the OR and then our goal is to bring better technology into the OR to enable them to do exactly what they want, reducing cognitive load, fatigue, and improving ergonomics. This can be challenging for hardware engineering because they need to find ways to implement that product strategy within the constants of how the user operates.
What is Galen Robotics?
From their website, Galen Robotics’ mission is to “expand the benefits of microsurgery and surgical robotics by enabling precise surgical maneuvers through human-machine cooperation.”
Learn about their newest innovations here »