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Think about what a puppet can do: Not much, since it’s typically controlled by a single hand. Then consider the skills of a marionette in the hands – both of them – of a talented performer: It can gesture and jump and even dance. A whole new world of movement opens up thanks to the capacity for fine-tuned control.
When it comes to GI endoscopy, revolutionary two-handed marionette-style control beckons on the horizon thanks to robotics. That’s the word from Josh DeFonzo, chief operating officer of Auris Health, who will present a keynote speech on “Opportunities in GI Over the Next Decade” at the 2019 AGA Tech Summit, sponsored by the AGA Center for GI Innovation and Technology.
“I’ll be talking about where opportunities will lie in the GI space over the next decade,” Mr. DeFonzo said. “One of the major themes will be the need to accelerate technical capabilities in endoscopy. Noninvasive treatment is quite challenging for interventional endoscopists. They generally don’t have the tools they need to reach where they need to reach, see where they need to see, and perform complex tasks, at least not at scale.”
This is all changing thanks to the work of companies like Auris Health, which is working to advance endoscopy through flexible robotics. Auris Health, which was recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson, is offering robotic endoscopy to pulmonologists and developing it for gastroenterology.
The challenges of existing endoscopic technology, Mr. DeFonzo said, revolve around the limitations of access. “In the world of GI, it’s not difficult to get to polyps or cancerous lesions. It’s harder to do something when you’re there,” he said. “In the colon, stomach, and esophagus, you’re in a cylindrical hallway with a cylindrical device, and both are moving. You don’t have the stability to achieve traction, and you are usually limited to a single hand and single working channel.”
Robotic endoscopic technology offers physicians the ability to overcome these barriers through two-handed control and other advances. “It’s all about reach, vision, control, and the ability to perform tasks as a result of those three things,” he said. “The hope is empower endoscopists with more tools and capabilities to prevent patients from having to undergo surgery.”
Within the next 5 years, he predicts, physicians will be able to use robotic endoscopy to remove potentially cancerous lesions during colonoscopy instead of referring patients for colectomy. And over the longer term, perhaps over more than a decade, he expects patients will be able to undergo endoscopic removal of those lesions during colonoscopy instead of being referred.
Meanwhile, he said, scientists are advancing areas such as two-handed robotic control, Google Maps-style navigation based on preoperative scans, and pattern recognition to detect abnormalities such as lesions.
Think about what a puppet can do: Not much, since it’s typically controlled by a single hand. Then consider the skills of a marionette in the hands – both of them – of a talented performer: It can gesture and jump and even dance. A whole new world of movement opens up thanks to the capacity for fine-tuned control.
When it comes to GI endoscopy, revolutionary two-handed marionette-style control beckons on the horizon thanks to robotics. That’s the word from Josh DeFonzo, chief operating officer of Auris Health, who will present a keynote speech on “Opportunities in GI Over the Next Decade” at the 2019 AGA Tech Summit, sponsored by the AGA Center for GI Innovation and Technology.
“I’ll be talking about where opportunities will lie in the GI space over the next decade,” Mr. DeFonzo said. “One of the major themes will be the need to accelerate technical capabilities in endoscopy. Noninvasive treatment is quite challenging for interventional endoscopists. They generally don’t have the tools they need to reach where they need to reach, see where they need to see, and perform complex tasks, at least not at scale.”
This is all changing thanks to the work of companies like Auris Health, which is working to advance endoscopy through flexible robotics. Auris Health, which was recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson, is offering robotic endoscopy to pulmonologists and developing it for gastroenterology.
The challenges of existing endoscopic technology, Mr. DeFonzo said, revolve around the limitations of access. “In the world of GI, it’s not difficult to get to polyps or cancerous lesions. It’s harder to do something when you’re there,” he said. “In the colon, stomach, and esophagus, you’re in a cylindrical hallway with a cylindrical device, and both are moving. You don’t have the stability to achieve traction, and you are usually limited to a single hand and single working channel.”
Robotic endoscopic technology offers physicians the ability to overcome these barriers through two-handed control and other advances. “It’s all about reach, vision, control, and the ability to perform tasks as a result of those three things,” he said. “The hope is empower endoscopists with more tools and capabilities to prevent patients from having to undergo surgery.”
Within the next 5 years, he predicts, physicians will be able to use robotic endoscopy to remove potentially cancerous lesions during colonoscopy instead of referring patients for colectomy. And over the longer term, perhaps over more than a decade, he expects patients will be able to undergo endoscopic removal of those lesions during colonoscopy instead of being referred.
Meanwhile, he said, scientists are advancing areas such as two-handed robotic control, Google Maps-style navigation based on preoperative scans, and pattern recognition to detect abnormalities such as lesions.
Think about what a puppet can do: Not much, since it’s typically controlled by a single hand. Then consider the skills of a marionette in the hands – both of them – of a talented performer: It can gesture and jump and even dance. A whole new world of movement opens up thanks to the capacity for fine-tuned control.
When it comes to GI endoscopy, revolutionary two-handed marionette-style control beckons on the horizon thanks to robotics. That’s the word from Josh DeFonzo, chief operating officer of Auris Health, who will present a keynote speech on “Opportunities in GI Over the Next Decade” at the 2019 AGA Tech Summit, sponsored by the AGA Center for GI Innovation and Technology.
“I’ll be talking about where opportunities will lie in the GI space over the next decade,” Mr. DeFonzo said. “One of the major themes will be the need to accelerate technical capabilities in endoscopy. Noninvasive treatment is quite challenging for interventional endoscopists. They generally don’t have the tools they need to reach where they need to reach, see where they need to see, and perform complex tasks, at least not at scale.”
This is all changing thanks to the work of companies like Auris Health, which is working to advance endoscopy through flexible robotics. Auris Health, which was recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson, is offering robotic endoscopy to pulmonologists and developing it for gastroenterology.
The challenges of existing endoscopic technology, Mr. DeFonzo said, revolve around the limitations of access. “In the world of GI, it’s not difficult to get to polyps or cancerous lesions. It’s harder to do something when you’re there,” he said. “In the colon, stomach, and esophagus, you’re in a cylindrical hallway with a cylindrical device, and both are moving. You don’t have the stability to achieve traction, and you are usually limited to a single hand and single working channel.”
Robotic endoscopic technology offers physicians the ability to overcome these barriers through two-handed control and other advances. “It’s all about reach, vision, control, and the ability to perform tasks as a result of those three things,” he said. “The hope is empower endoscopists with more tools and capabilities to prevent patients from having to undergo surgery.”
Within the next 5 years, he predicts, physicians will be able to use robotic endoscopy to remove potentially cancerous lesions during colonoscopy instead of referring patients for colectomy. And over the longer term, perhaps over more than a decade, he expects patients will be able to undergo endoscopic removal of those lesions during colonoscopy instead of being referred.
Meanwhile, he said, scientists are advancing areas such as two-handed robotic control, Google Maps-style navigation based on preoperative scans, and pattern recognition to detect abnormalities such as lesions.
FROM THE 2019 AGA TECH SUMMIT