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Endoluminal and transgastric surgical procedures present challenges for current endoscopes and instruments which, especially when retroflexed, are too flexible and do not permit transmission of adequate force. The USGI TransPort is a multilumen surgical access system designed to enable endosurgical therapy. ShapeLock technology allows the TransPort to have either a flexible or a rigid state. In flexible mode, the TransPort is introduced and steered to a precise location. It is then locked by squeezing a handle, to provide a rigid platform for therapeutic procedures. A new device for tissue grasping and approximation, the g-Prox, has been designed for use with the TransPort, and this new endosurgical system has been tested in a series of intragastric and transgastric procedures in pigs and human cadavers. The experiments demonstrated the potential for using the TransPort platform to improve flexible endoluminal and transluminal procedures, including intragastric and transgastric fundoplication, cholecystectomy, gastric restriction, and gastric full-thickness incision closure.
Paul Swain (Tue,) studied this question.