Medical Microinstruments Launches New Simulator for Robotic Microsurgery

“It was a priority for our company to offer our surgeons a simulation solution so they can practice robotic microsurgery in a more convenient way,” said Mark Toland, CEO of MMI SpA. “By training on the simulator, surgeons will be even more prepared for their first Symani patient or for a challenging case.”

“We were looking for a way to provide surgeons with a Symani experience without needing to transport the system,” said Jamie Milas, VP of Marketing at MMI SpA. “We selected VirtaMed as our trusted partner because of their shared passion for improving patient care and because we knew that they could develop a fully customized simulator that would emulate our device and showcase the advantages of Symani microsurgery.”

VirtaMed was incorporated in 2007 and is a world leader in surgical training solutions and data-driven medical education. VirtaMed develops world-class and educationally relevant virtual reality simulators for various medical disciplines such as orthopedics, obstetrics, gynecology, urology and laparoscopy. The VirtaMed LaparoS™ offers an experience that looks and feels real to the users, including correct physical behavior of internal organs and true to life interactions of surgical tools with those organs.

“We’re thrilled to partner with MMI to address this new frontier of robotic surgery,” said Stefan Tuchschmid, Co-CEO at VirtaMed. “MMI’s technology provides tremendous value for the surgical community and the patients they serve. We’re proud that our collaboration has led to a simulator that’s so realistic that surgeons can immediately begin suturing on Symani after just a few minutes of practice on the simulator.”

Incorporating simulation will also accelerate MMI’s product development process by enabling new solutions to be tested in a virtual environment for efficacy and usability.

MMI’s Symani Surgical System is the only robot dedicated to microsurgery that offers wristed instruments designed to improve a surgeon’s ability to access and suture small, delicate anatomy. Its platform provides motion scaling and tremor reduction to allow surgeons to make precise micro-movements. With Symani, surgeons can perform suturing, ligation, anastomoses and coaptations.

MMI will exhibit at the European Association of Plastic Surgeons, May 26-28 in Naples, Italy and at the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery Congress, June 1-4, in Cancun, Mexico. Demonstrations of the Symani Simulator and Symani Surgical System will be available at the MMI booth.