Novel Clip Applicator for Minimally Invasive Surgery (NCAMIS)

Our vision is to disrupt the surgical clip market through the clinical introduction of a technology that allows the minimally invasive deployment of a completely novel clip design and thereby allowing applications to be carried out which were previously not possible. Conventional laparoscopic clip applicator systems are not designed to compress significant areas of tissue and impose a limit on the width of the clip to fit within the cross-sectional footprint of the clip applicator.

These challenges have been addressed by a novel innovative applicator that will enhance the functionality of the laparoscopic clip with greater performance in tissue compression. This is combined with a unique laparoscopic clip applicator that rotates the clip through 90° in the horizontal axis aiding precise application. The design features improve clip retention and ensure that the clip deforms in a controlled manner and it remains parallel under deformation. The novelty has been confirmed through professional searches and patent applications have been filed to cover the core technology and a first prototype has been developed [1].

The aim of this proposal is to design and manufacture new refined models of the applicator, to assess the device safety, efficiency and performance on animal models, to optimise the design for robotic-assisted surgical applications, to rise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from 3 to 5 and work toward completing Market Authorisation and CE marking. 

Team

Leading applicant: Hadi El Daou, PhD

Co-applicant: Mikael Sodergren MBChB, DIC, PhD, FRCS

Academic PI: Prof. Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena