Cleveland Clinic Selects Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Surgery (LESS) as One of the Top Ten Innovations of 2009

Founder of Leader In LESS Instrumentation Is Selected for Industry Leader LESS Panel at Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ — Cambridge Endo, a pioneer in the rapidly emerging LESS (also called Single Port Access Laparoscopic Surgery or SPA) market, is pleased to announce that its president and founder, Woojin Lee, was among the industry leaders selected to be on a LESS panel at the Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit. Cambridge Endo developed, manufactures and markets the innovative Autonomy(TM) Laparo-Angle(TM) articulating instruments which, it believes, is the enabling technology that will drive the rapid uptake of this major advance in laparoscopic surgery.

In traditional laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon makes three to six “keyhole” incisions in multiple sites, inserts instrumentation into each “keyhole” and performs the surgery. In LESS/SPA, only one incision is made through the umbilicus (navel). All of the instruments go through this single “keyhole.” Said Lee, “LESS/SPA has been called ‘scarless’ surgery.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the key criteria used in selecting LESS/SPA as one of the top 10, “game changing” innovations of 2009 were:

• “Have significant potential for short-term clinical impact (either a major improvement in patient benefit or an improved function that enhances healthcare delivery)
• Have a high probability of success
• Be on the market or close to being introduced
• Have sufficient data available to support its nomination.”

Inderbir S. Gill, M.D., Chairman of Urology at the Cleveland Clinic commented, “[we] performed LESS live-donor nephrectomies in nine consecutive kidney donors for kidney transplantation. All aspects of kidney harvesting were completed though the navel. Instead of a visible six-inch scar and a six-week recovery period, patients recovered within two weeks and had a tiny scar hidden by their belly button. Because it only uses one port with multiple channels for the surgeon to simultaneously pass various surgical instruments, LESS may also reduce complications that might occur after traditional open and even laparoscopic abdominal surgery. My patients report less discomfort and have faster recoveries compared to those undergoing traditional laparoscopy.” According to the clinic, the return to work time for single port surgery donors is about 17 days vs. 51 for traditional multi-incision laparoscopic procedures.

Commented Lee, “Donor nephrectomy is but one of the many laparoscopic surgical procedures that, we believe, will be converting to LESS/SPA in the coming years. Already, LESS/SPA procedures have been performed with Autonomy articulating instruments in many general, urologic, and gynecologic surgical procedures. Together, over two million of these procedures are currently performed laparoscopically in the U.S. each year. This is a very large addressable market.”

About Cambridge Endo

Cambridge Endo is a privately held medical device company that designs, develops and manufactures innovative articulating laparoscopic instruments. The Autonomy(TM) Lapro-Angle(TM) product line is designed to be an enabling technology for LESS/SPA. Autonomy articulating instruments are also used in many traditional laparoscopic procedures by general, bariatric, urologic, and gynecologic surgeons.

Cambridge Endo is headquartered in Framingham, MA. For more information about Cambridge, please visit www.cambridgeendo.com.

    Contact:
    Woojin Lee, Ph.D.
    508-405-0790 ext. 104
    wlee@CambridgeEndo.com

SOURCE Cambridge Endo