Minimally-invasive, or keyhole, surgery

Today, general surgeons extensively use stapling devices to dissect and connect tissue in bowel, abdominal and pulmonary surgical procedures. In contrast, 20 years ago, hand-sewn sutures were used for virtually all of these procedures.

The worldwide market for laparoscopic surgery products is estimated at $3.6 billion per year, with endoscopic stapling and cutting devices representing nearly $1 billion of this market. Endoscopic staplers and cutters have applications in numerous surgical specialties, including colorectal, bariatric, gynecological, urology and thoracic surgery.

Cardica’s Microcutter represents the first true multi-fire endoscopic device which both cuts and staples during a wide variety of laparoscopic procedures including bariatric, thoracic and general surgery.  During all procedures, the Microcutter is designed to:

• Place up to eight successive staple deployments without needing to remove the Microcutter from the surgical site; 
• Facilitate less invasive laparoscopic surgical approaches through a significant size reduction and ability to access difficult-to-reach areas through fully articulating and flexible shaft designs;
  
• Dissect, clamp, coagulate and cut like conventional closure devices when combined with bi-polar coagulation technology; and
  
• Reduce the need for surgeons to use as many as three different modalities during surgery, thereby reducing costs and significantly improving ease of use.