Mariner Endosurgery: Zoning in on Safer Surgeries
Laparoscopy, a surgical procedure typically performed inside the abdomen, has garnered widespread acclaim for its minimally invasive approach. It offers numerous benefits to patients, including less scarring, shorter recovery times, and decreased post-operative discomfort. However, precision and safety are paramount to maintain it as a preferred procedural standard of care.
Compared to traditional open surgeries, laparoscopy introduces a challenging operating environment which, to be proficient, requires highly developed psychomotor and visuospatial skills. During residency, hands-on training time is often limited, and thus the learning curve for laparoscopic technique can be long and is not without risk — given changes in depth perception while performing a surgery, and the use of elongated instrumentation.
Mariner Endosurgery is a medical technology company focused on the design and distribution of medical devices that advance safety in laparoscopic surgery. Through discussions with customers and users, Mariner Endosurgery recognized the opportunity to support residency skill development while enhancing the safety of the OR environment and invented LaparoGuard™ to address these needs.
At its core, LaparoGuard’s strength lies in its capability to deliver advanced safety features to a surgeon during a procedure by adapting in-real-time to movement of the instrumentation within the body. Leveraging a patented algorithm that employs augmented reality (AR) and tracking capability, LaparoGuard allows the surgeon to map out safe and danger zones creating relevant and meaningful guardrails for the specific patient anatomy and procedure that he/she is working within.
Equipped with an infrared camera, and trackers affixed to instrumentation, LaparoGuard enables surgeons to track the precise movement of surgical instruments within the defined safe and/or danger zones, promptly notifying the care team if an instrument deviates into an unwanted area.
In such instances, the system triggers visual and auditory alarms, effectively alerting surgeons to move instrumentation back into the defined procedural (or safe) zone. This real-time awareness enables immediate action, empowering surgeons to respond swiftly and appropriately, a safety feature that current MIS procedures do not have without LaparoGuard.
Mariner Endosurgery’s technologies seamlessly integrate with a client’s existing surgical instruments and capital equipment, enabling effortless incorporation into the client’s operating room (OR) environment. The company provides a comprehensive solution including implementation, product training, service and clinical support.
“We have listened to the needs of our customers to understand ways that technology and industry can better support the success of surgical programs and resident training within minimally invasive surgery. The LaparoGuard system delivers cutting edge safety features providing increased confidence to surgeons in their efforts to improve patient outcomes during these procedures.”
— Mike Daniels, President, and General Manager at Mariner Endosurgery.
Mr. Daniels is a Medical Device Executive with 20+ years of healthcare experience working within hospital systems as well as top medical device companies. “Since joining the Mariner organization I have been fortunate to work with our talented and dedicated engineering and operations teams. They share a strong commitment to developing and commercializing products and solutions to promote safety in the OR.”