World’s first system to eliminate surgical smoke and improve visibility in laparoscopic or robot-assisted procedures gains FDA approval.

courtesy:Cardiff University

Alesi Surgical Limited, leading innovator of Minimally Invasive Technology gains FDA approval for its Ultravision system. It is world’s first technology that not only clears surgical smoke, but eliminates it to improve visibility of the surgical field. Particulate matter and smoke is generated by cutting instruments during the modern laparoscopic abdominal surgeries obscuring the surgical field.

Dr Dominic Griffiths, Managing Director of Alesi Surgical said “We are thrilled to have gained FDA approval for our Ultravision system that will now allow us to enter the US market. Commercially the US represents approximately fifty per cent of the global medical device market and so it is difficult to overstate the importance of this for the company.”

When a surgeon uses Ultravision, the surgery is quick, requires few lens cleaning along with significantly less use of carbon dioxide. Keyhole surgeries are known to use several hundred liters of carbon dioxide to get a clear vision of the surgical field, which prolongs the recovery time and causes post-surgical pain.  

The Ultravision system works by producing negatively charged gas ions in the abdominal cavity, which move towards the “positive” patient tissue. As the ions move, they collide with water vapour and particulate matter and draw them away from the surgical site. Particles land, and the electrical charge flows back to the generator.

After 1 minute of continuous use, smoke evacuation removes 30.2% of particles (by number) In the same time period Ultravision™ precipitated 99.9% of particles, independent of particle size, from 7nm to 10µm (p<0.05).

It is estimated that over seven million abdominal keyhole procedures are performed annually, worldwide.

                             The video demonstrates the mode of action of Ultravision.