Distalmotion Expands Robotic Surgery Into the Outpatient Era

Robotic surgery is becoming an increasingly important part of modern healthcare, but the environment in which those procedures take place is changing. More surgeries are moving from traditional inpatient settings to ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient facilities as health systems look for ways to improve efficiency, reduce costs and meet patient demand for shorter recovery times. As a result, healthcare providers are rethinking what they need from a robotic surgery platform.

Many robotic systems were originally designed for large hospital operating rooms with dedicated space, extensive infrastructure and specialized support teams. While these systems can deliver strong clinical outcomes, they are not always a natural fit for outpatient environments where operating rooms serve multiple purposes throughout the day and efficiency is critical.

In addition to being a strong surgical provider, flexibility is also a key criterion for ambulatory surgery centers.

Healthcare organizations are seeking robotic platforms that integrate with existing facility infrastructure and do not require substantial facility construction or a dedicated room in the OR suite. Hospitals need robotic technologies that complement the trend toward minimally invasive surgery, enable the use of their OR suites for cases without robotics, and do not add unnecessary workflow and operational complexity. Cost is also becoming a more significant factor in the outpatient setting, where the reimbursement model for outpatient surgery is less forgiving of technologies that do not increase workflow efficiency.

This trend has fostered new attention to robotic systems designed specifically for outpatient surgery. Instead of replacing existing instruments and procedures with new ones, users seem more interested in systems designed to work within the existing operating room environment. Systems designed to let the team keep using their familiar viewing platform, energy devices, and surgical instrumentation would appear to be less demanding on training and easier to adopt.

Mobility is also an area where outpatient surgery may find benefits from robotics. Outpatient facilities may often use the same operating rooms for a variety of procedures that cover a wide range of surgical sub-specialties and a busy day. Fixed robotic systems take up valuable space and restrict a facility's flexibility in scheduling its rooms. Mobile platforms would allow providers to bring equipment to the rooms where it is needed, thereby increasing the value of both the equipment and the room.

It's also worth discussing surgeon workflow. Many current robotic platforms place surgeons at a remote console, physically separating them from the patient and other members of the surgical team. However, many providers are showing increasing interest in platforms that allow surgeons to work seamlessly and move back and forth between robotic and traditional laparoscopy during an operation. That would give the surgeon more control to adjust his or her technique intraoperatively as needed rather than be constrained to a certain workflow.

With these outpatient requirements, DistalMotion has designed its DEXTER robotic surgery platform. Instead of asking hospitals to completely change their ORs to incorporate a robot, the company's mission is to facilitate robotic surgery in current ambulatory and outpatient settings.

DEXTER’s compact, mobile design allows it to pass through standard hospital doorways and operate in multiple rooms without requiring dedicated installation. Its open architecture enables providers to continue using many of the visualization systems, energy devices and complementary technologies already integrated into their surgical programs. The platform also features a sterile surgeon console that allows surgeons to move seamlessly between robotic and laparoscopic techniques during a procedure, supporting greater flexibility and procedural control.

The success Distalmotion has found in Europe is evidence that the platform has been effective for day-surgery procedures, which patients can undergo without staying overnight and can be sent home the day they have surgery. The company is already making the robotic surgery platform accessible to U.S. Physicians, and as the platform continues to gain a wider scope of FDA-cleared indications, it enables providers to bring robotic surgery into more outpatient settings without sacrificing efficiency, room turnover, or cost-effectiveness.

As the field of robotic surgery continues to grow, providers are seeking ways to make the robotic surgery platform work clinically while being easily incorporated into their practice with an acceptable level of flexibility. Distalmotion's model of targeting outpatient use makes it an excellent option for physicians looking to increase accessibility to robotic surgery procedures.