STERIS collaborates with maker of da Vinci surgical robots on minimally invasive operating rooms

MENTOR, Ohio — STERIS Corp. and Intuitive Surgical Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., are teaming up to make robotic surgical suites that offer the best of both companies’ technologies.

STERIS will contribute its 360 Suites to the joint product. The company’s visual and data controls, monitors and cameras; Harmony surgical lights and equipment booms; and surgical tables form the operating room infrastructure for the suites. Intuitive will contribute its da Vinci Surgical System — the sophisticated robotic equipment that surgeons control from a computer console to do highly precise surgeries through small incisions in the body — as well as its da Vinci Si high-definition visualization upgrade.

The goal is to create an ergonomically streamlined, technologically advanced surgical suite that can do many types of minimally invasive surgeries. “What matters most to our health care customers is that they have the best available tools to continually improve patient outcomes,” said Bill O’Riordan, vice president and general manager of Surgical Solutions at STERIS, in a written statement. “This enhanced MIS suite is designed to increase efficiency for surgeons and their staffs.”

For example, STERIS has designed the suite to improve surgical work flow by keeping digital equipment and cords off the operating room floor and out of the way of robotic surgical technologies. A new advanced robotic suite at Intuitive Surgical’s clinical training laboratory in California will be one of the first fruits of the collaborative agreement between the companies, STERIS said.

Operating rooms that include both surgical and imaging technologies — called hybrid suites — are the product of two needs for most hospitals: better quality of care and better cost-efficiency. Collaborating with companies like GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare and Siemens Medical Solutions on these suites is helping STERIS add revenue — even during a recession — and participate in what experts call “disruptive technology” that is revolutionizing surgical care.

The STERIS collaboration with Intuitive Surgical and its da Vinci technology could be the latest advance in the operating-room revolution. “We already know that the human health benefit of infinitely precise robotic surgery is huge,” O’Riordan said. “Add to that the productivity benefits of a STERIS-Intuitive Surgical integrated robotic solution, and you have a justifiable investment for current and future MIS needs.”

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