Grenoble, France-based eCential Robotics unveiled its surgical robotic arm at the annual meeting of the French Society of Spinal Surgery held June 17-19, 2021 in Bordeaux, France.
Founded in 2009, eCential Robotics designs and manufactures a bone surgery system that brings together 2D/3D robotic imaging and surgical navigation. The company currently has 60 patents and 6 registered trademarks. Per the press release, the company’s goal is “to concentrate the flow of surgical tasks on the essentials and make robotic-assisted bone surgery simple.”
In furtherance of its goal of making surgery simple, the eCential Robotics platform is a unified and open solution. This means that surgeons can use the platform with their choice of implants. Additionally, the company is developing a suite of applications that, according to its website, will allow “each surgeon to practice his art in his own way, in complete safety.”
The CoBot, collaborative robot, is the newest addition to the unified eCential Robotics platform. The CoBot will perform the surgeon’s preplanned action. According to the press release, the objective of the CoBot is to “enable the surgeon to perform the procedure as planned with efficiency and reproducible precision.”
During surgery, the surgeon plans the implant based on the patient’s image in the intervention position. The surgeon then uses the interface to adjust the “position and orientation” of the implant. The surgeon maintains control of the surgery while the CoBot “automatically align[s] the pedicle targeting instruments on the chosen trajectory.”
The company is in the process of obtaining CE marking for its robotic arm.
eCential Robotics Chief Strategy Officer Laurence Chabanas explained the key differentiating aspect of CoBot, “The CoBot is a collaborative surgical robot that complements the SURGIVISIO imaging robot. The unified platform offers a unique solution that is meant to be simple and efficient for the surgeon.”
Chabanas continued, “Like the human body, the elements of the platform coordinate for a fluid gesture: imaging robot (eye), CoBot (hand), and navigation station that controls the whole (brain).”
