Virtuoso Surgical, a medical device company based in Nashville, Tennessee, has announced the first-in-human use of its Virtuoso Surgical Robotic System for bladder cancer removal. The procedures, conducted at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) by urologist Dr. Jeremy Teoh, utilized the Virtuoso system to perform endoscopic bladder lesion excisions using the en bloc resection technique. This method removes bladder tumors in one piece rather than in fragments, which can improve pathological assessment and may reduce recurrence rates.
The Virtuoso system incorporates two robotically controlled manipulators, each less than one millimeter in diameter, located at the tip of a rigid endoscope. This configuration is designed to enhance the surgeon’s precision and control during minimally invasive procedures, particularly in confined anatomical spaces. In the reported case series, the device was used to remove eleven lesions from six patients.
Dr. Teoh, who has published research supporting the clinical benefits of en bloc resections, including reduced tumor recurrence and improved specimen quality, described the robotic system as enhancing maneuverability and precision. The use of robotics in this context is intended to address the limitations of existing surgical tools, which have restricted wider adoption of the en bloc method, particularly in the United States.
The Virtuoso technology is based on concentric tube robotic arm technology developed by company founder and president Dr. Robert J. Webster, III, originally at Johns Hopkins University. The company plans to expand clinical trials and explore applications of the system in additional medical fields, including uterine fibroids, pulmonary and neurosurgical procedures, and endoscopic spine surgery.
The procedures in Hong Kong were conducted under the oversight of the CUHK Ethics Board. The Virtuoso system has not received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is not currently available for commercial use in the United States. An Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application is planned as the company seeks to initiate clinical studies in the U.S.
