A robot saved a 61-year-old man's life by removing a cancerous tumor from his throat in a first of its kind operation in the U.K. Surgeons at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital used a next-generation robot called Versius to perform the esophagectomy to remove a 2.3-inch tumor from a patient named Martin Nugent. The procedure performed by the robot was a form of minimal access surgery, which creates smaller incisions and reduces the change of complications, scarring and post-operation pain. 'To have been given a second chance to see my grandchildren, my children and my wife has meant so much to me. The team at the GRH saved my life and I'll be forever grateful to them for doing so,' Nugent said. A robot saved a 61-year-old man's life by removing a cancerous tumor from his throat in a first of its kind operation in the U.K. ABOVE: A picture from a different operation using CMR Surgical's Versius robot Surgeons at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital used a next-generation robot called Versius to perform the esophagectomy to remove a 2.3-inch tumor from a patient named Martin Nugent. 'The suite of fully-wristed instruments, combined with enhanced 3D HD vision, give surgeons a high level of accuracy when performing complicated procedural steps or operating in hard to reach areas,' CMR Surgical, the company responsible for robot, says on its website The delicate effort, which involved raising Nugent's stomach and reconnecting it to his esophagus, is credited with giving him a chance to have experiences he didn't think would be possible.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has joined forces with CMR Surgical to install two Versius robotic systems at Watford General Hospital. The investment in two systems comes as part of the trust's commitment to scaling up its robotic-assisted surgery programme and becoming a centre of excellence in minimally invasive robotic surgery. Once fully implemented, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals plans to provide surgical procedures using Versius across multiple specialities, including colorectal, gynaecology, urology and upper gastrointestinal surgery. The trust intends to replicate the savings in bed days seen at sites with existing Versius programmes, helping to ease the pressure NHS services are facing with bed capacity. Vanash Patel, consultant colorectal surgeon at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals, said: "We are excited to implement our surgical robotics programme, helping to drive better outcomes for our patients. With Versius, our surgeons will be able to perform complex operations with the enhanced precision and control that robotics offer. "We are committed to scaling up our robotics programme at speed and believe that having two robotic systems from the outset, which can be easily moved between operating rooms and integrated into existing workflows, will help us achieve this." As well as Versius being easily movable, the system also has an open console that facilitates clear verbal and non-verbal communication between the surgeon and surgical team. West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals expects that scaling its surgical robotics programme will see more patients being offered a minimal access approach, bringing with it benefits that include a reduction in post-operative pain, blood loss and scarring as well as improved patient recovery times and a reduced stay in hospitals for patients. The trust also hopes the programme, alongside its teaching hospital status, will increase staff wellbeing, morale, and talent attraction and retention. The two robotic systems have been designed by CMR Surgical, a global medical devices company. CMR has successfully negotiated competitive tenders in numerous markets and Versius is continuing to expand rapidly within the NHS in the UK. In the last 18 months, the robots have been implemented at several trusts and hospitals, including Frimley Health Trust, East Surrey Hospital, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Guy's and St Thomas' Trust. Dr Mark Slack, chief medical officer at CMR Surgical, said: "We're hugely proud to partner with WHTH on an NHS-first implementation of two Versius systems.

BEGIN ARTICLE PREVIEW: Robot surgery is burgeoning across Europe and the wider world, with one UK-built surgical robot now completing more than 1,000 operations.With a pair of 3D glasses, and using what look like video game controllers, skilled surgeons can utilise the high-tech Versius system to undertake complicated procedures with often much better outcomes for patients.The use of this key-hole surgery – or minimal access surgery – has benefits such as shorter hospital stays for patients, faster recovery time, less pain, less bleeding, and reduced scarring.Versius was created by Cambridge-based CMR Surgical, and is now in use in hospitals in France, Italy the UK and India.“If you could have a robot with articulated wrists and the enhanced vision and more people could do minimal access surgery, then more patients would get all the benefits of the minimal access,” said Mark Slack, CMR Surgical’s co-founder and chief medical officer.Launched in 2018, the system h

A Cambridge-based company that has developed what it calls the "next generation" of robot surgeons has raised £195m ($240m) to fund its global expansion. CMR Surgical, which is one of the UK's fastest-growing firms, says it wants to bring minimally invasive or keyhole surgery to patients around the world. The series C funding round -- the third time it has raised major outside investment -- is Europe's largest-ever private financing round in the medical technology sector, the company said on Tuesday. CMR Surgical's product, known as Versius, mimics the human arm, making it easier for surgeons to be more precise. Because the product is versatile and affordable, the company says, it can be used across "a broad range" of minimal access surgeries, which are associated with less pain, shorter hospital stays, and far fewer complications.

A new robot with flexible joints like a human will be used by the NHS next year to operate on patients. Known as Versius, it is a third of the size of robots already used by hospitals, such as the da Vinci Xi system. Experts say this should allow it to perform a wider range of delicate procedures via keyhole surgery, such as hernia repairs. Each of the robot's four arms has fully-rotating wrists, controlled by a surgeon sitting at a console with two video game-like joysticks and a 3D screen. This gives surgeons increased dexterity and a magnified view, which is thought to reduce pain and boost recovery times among patients.

By the end of 2018, surgeons in the United Kingdom could have a new assistant in the operating room: Versius, the world's smallest surgical robot. Created by CMR Surgical, the bot is essentially three robotic arms attached to a mobile unit about the size of a barstool, according to a recent report by The Guardian. A surgeon controls the bot from a control panel, guiding the arms as they carry out keyhole procedures (surgeries performed through tiny incisions in the body -- much less invasive than open surgeries, which require much larger incisions). CMR Surgical is in the process of getting Versius approved by UK regulators so that it can move out of the training room and into the operating room. The company hopes to pass this regulatory hurdle before the end of this year.

It is the most exacting of surgical skills: tying a knot deep inside a patient's abdomen, pivoting long graspers through keyhole incisions with no direct view of the thread. Trainee surgeons typically require 60 to 80 hours of practice, but in a mock-up operating theatre outside Cambridge, a non-medic with just a few hours of experience is expertly wielding a hook-shaped needle – in this case stitching a square of pink sponge rather than an artery or appendix. The feat is performed with the assistance of Versius, the world's smallest surgical robot, which could be used in NHS operating theatres for the first time later this year if approved for clinical use. Versius is one of a handful of advanced surgical robots that are predicted to transform the way operations are performed by allowing tens or hundreds of thousands more surgeries each year to be carried out as keyhole procedures. "The vast majority of patients, despite all the advantages of minimal-access surgery, are still getting open surgery, because so few surgeons have the skills," said Mark Slack, head of gynaecology at Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge, and co-founder of CMR Surgical, the company behind Versius.