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Preliminary experience in transoral laryngeal surgery with a flexible robotic system for benign lesions of the vocal folds

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this case series is to present the first four cases utilizing micro-phonosurgical instrumentation designed specifically for use with a semi-flexible ‘robotic’ system—the Medrobotics Flex system and to evaluate the accessibility and feasibility of this platform in the context of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for laryngeal surgery.

Methods

Four patients (3 female, 1 male; age range 49–79 years) were operated by the senior author at CHL—a tertiary hospital centre between 2016 and 2017. The ‘robot’ was deployed in all cases to assess its accessibility and ability to perform surgery in the larynx.

Results

All four patients were successfully treated using the system along with newly developed instrumentation specifically focused on phonosurgery.

Conclusion

This series has demonstrated accessibility and ability for laryngeal surgery using a novel semi-rigid operator-controlled ‘robotic’ system. We encountered no device failures and were able to perform all the selected cases uneventfully.

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Funding

No financial disclosures to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, CHL-Eich, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    Marc Remacle

  2. Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, National University Health System, Jurong Health Campus, 1 Jurong East Street 21, Singapore, 609606, Singapore

    Vyas M. N. Prasad

Authors
  1. Marc Remacle
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  2. Vyas M. N. Prasad
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vyas M. N. Prasad.

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Conflict of interest

No conflicts of interest to declare.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects in this study.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards

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Remacle, M., Prasad, V.M.N. Preliminary experience in transoral laryngeal surgery with a flexible robotic system for benign lesions of the vocal folds. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 275, 761–765 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-4900-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-4900-0

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