Assistance System Reduces Surgeon’s Physical Exertion

An active surgical assistance system helps surgeons by holding, positioning, and moving endoscopes and other instruments during surgical procedures.

The ViKY active assistance system eases the pressure on surgeons and their assistants by taking over the demanding task of holding and guiding endoscopes and positioning manipulators in general surgery, urological, and gynecological procedures. The system may be used to guide and hold the endoscope during laparoscopic interventions, or as a holding and positioning system for uterine manipulators, and is guided, positioned, and held during the operation in response to voice commands or with a food control pedal that ensures reliable interaction throughout all the phases of a surgical procedure.


The system is comprised of a control system and a compact robotic unit that attaches to the operating table’s side rail, with an articulated arm that results in precise instrument positioning using gentle, delicate movements. With appropriate adapters, the VIKY system can interface with all the standard endoscope optical systems and cameras and with uterine manipulators, regardless of the make. The system can also store different positioning configurations in its internal memory and recreate them later on command.

In contrast to large and complex surgical robotic systems, ViKY enables the surgeon to be in direct contact with patients at their bedside and enables surgeons to take advantage of new minimally invasive surgical techniques such as Laparo Endoscopic Single Site (LESS) and Single Port Access (SPA) approaches. The ViKY active assistance system is a product of EndoControl (La Tronche, France), and is distributed by TRUMPF Medical Systems (Ditzingen, Germany).

“After the successful launch of TRUMPF active assistance system in Europe end of last year, both companies naturally desired to extend their collaboration,” said Clément Vidal, CEO of EndoControl. “TRUMPF Medical Systems has a strong presence in the Middle East region and Africa with direct subsidiary in Dubai. This opens up an exciting new world of opportunities to EndoControl that we could not have reached by ourselves.”

Related Links:

EndoControl
TRUMPF Medical Systems