Mr. Duggan: We founded the company in 1989 with the intent of creating the world's first surgical robotic system. The original R&D work was funded with a grant from NASA, and many of the original engineering team members are still in place today. The company reached a number of milestones in 2001, both financially and on the product development front, and we completed a number of 'world's firsts,' which is something I think people have come to expect from us. The accomplishment that generated national attention was the telesurgery we did on September 7 between New York and Strasbourg, France. Surgeons in New York, using our system of products, successfully operated on a woman in France and removed her gallbladder. The success of the procedure, named 'Operation Lindbergh,' will surely be remembered in history as the beginning of a revolution in the delivery of health care. Not only did this woman receive her surgery from doctors 4,000 miles away, the procedure was performed endoscopically using our ZEUS' Robotic Surgical System, without the large incisions normally associated with surgery. This is the fundamental mission of our company, to enable minimally invasive, or as I like to think of it, 'patient friendly' surgery. It's undoubtedly the future of surgery, and we're delivering the technology to make it possible, today.
TWST: Could you expand more on your technology platform as well as some
of your other lead products?
Mr. Duggan: I think it's easiest to understand the technology we are
introducing if you view our innovations in a historical context. There
have really been three prior 'ages' in the practice of surgery. In the
1850s the introduction of anesthesia made it possible for people to
tolerate the procedures ' surgery done before this time was very limited
because of the inability of patients to withstand the terrible pain. At
the turn of the century the benefits of sterilization began to be
understood, making it much more likely for patients to survive the
operation without falling victim to deadly infections. It wasn't until
the late 1970s that technology made it possible for surgeons to begin
using video cameras to look inside the body, and ultimately perform
surgery without making large incisions to access the operative site. I
suppose that almost everyone knows someone who has had arthroscopy, on a
knee for example. Surgeons use small ports to gain access to the site,
instead of a 6- to 12-inch incision. The fourth age of surgery is
certain to be computer assisted robotic surgery. We're bringing the
advancements of the past 30 years into the operating room for the first
time. The use of robotics makes it possible to extend the expertise of
the surgeon beyond the limits of the human hand to practice. In other
words, by adding a computer between the patient and the surgeon, we can
greatly increase the surgeon's precision and dexterity, and we can
increase the complexity of the types of reconstructive surgeries that
can be performed. In the 1980s the field of endoscopy naturally followed
the work of arthroscopic surgeons. Using a camera that provides 10 or 15
times magnification, surgeons for the first time were able to operate
inside the body without making large incisions to allow them direct
vision of the area that needed repair. We believe that adding computers
and robotics is the fourth great advancement because it makes it
possible to give the surgeon the ability to match the greatly magnified
view with equally enhanced physical abilities. Our products simply
extend a surgeon's ability to operate in the tiny confined spaces inside
the body. Perhaps the greatest benefits are to the patients, who are
spared the pain and trauma of large incisions. It's really an honor to
be involved in something that has such tangible benefits to society:
removing the pain and trauma from surgery, and improving the success of
the surgeon.
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