Innovative force sensing technology enables the surgeons to feel again from a distance

SensOR Medical Laboratories, a medical device start-up based out of Toronto, Canada has developed a novel force-sensing electronic skin called ForceFilm, that when paired with the existing laparoscopic tools enables the surgeons to get the ‘tactile sensation’ so easily felt during open surgeries.

Handling the tissues from a distance makes it difficult to get the idea of the amount of force applied, and increases the rate of surgical complications.

Minimal Invasive surgeries are on the rise in all specialties of surgery in hope of early recovery, shorter hospital stay and minimal pain and discomfort associated with the surgery. Transparency Market Research (TMR) recent study has projected a growth of 10.5% in the global minimally invasive surgery market by 2019.

CEO and co-founder Dr. Robert Brooks say “Our ultimate goal is to improve surgical safety. Medical error is the third largest cause of death. Up to 12% of medical error is caused by the inappropriate application of force in surgery.”

The ForceFilm can be fitted and removed from any existing laparoscopic instrument without damaging its working. The ForceFilm measures the force exerted at the tip of the instrument by using 2 to 4 strain gauges and transmit it wirelessly through Bluetooth transceiver to be displayed on the endoscopic monitor. The display gives the surgeon a visual feedback about the amount of pressure exerted while cutting or handling the tissues; thereby, reducing the surgical complications.

ForceFilm is also very useful in effectively training surgical residents about the level of ‘safe force’ during simulated surgeries, so that the complication rate is reduced during live surgeries.

“Our technology is unique in that it is the only force-sensing technology that can be added to any make or model of the surgical instrument and doesn’t modify surgical or hospital workflow,” added Dr. Brooks.

In addition, the unique design of ForceFilm makes it fully sterilizable with no need to disassemble the instrument.

The company has future plans to expand SensOR to identify specific site and type of surgeries. This will enable the surgeons to get an idea about the force applied in the past, along with the ‘safe force’ limit while operating in real time.

They are also planning to get SensOR into surgical education to shorten the learning curve and designing it so that it can be applied on every force-applying instrument in the surgical tray.

SensOR was recently awarded the James Dyson Foundation Award for Canada for its unique ForceFilm technology.

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Media Courtesy: SensOR

Here is a video demonstrating SensOR’s award-winning (James Dyson Award for Canada) ForceFilm technology