BRIGHTON, Mich., March 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FlexDex Inc. an innovative medical device company that has developed a platform technology to provide surgeons with high-performance and cost-effective minimally invasive surgical instruments.  We are pleased to announce that in May 2018, Dr Antonio Amodeo, Urology Surgeon at Istituto Oncologico Veneto, IRCCS, Castelfranco Veneto performed the first in a series of prostatectomies using the FlexDex Needle Driver in Italy.

Prostatectomy is a surgical procedure for treating prostate cancer, the most frequently diagnosed cancer among men in the European Union, with over 350,000 new prostate cancer cases diagnosed annually in the EU.  Historically, the only surgical treatment for prostate cancer was open surgery through a large incision. In the last 20 years, the availability of articulating surgical robots has enabled surgeons to perform a less traumatic prostatectomy through a minimally invasive approach. However, the purchase of an articulating surgical robot may create an economic burden on hospitals of over €1 million for the capital purchase and the additional cost of the annual maintenance contracts, which may be unsustainable for many hospitals.

The novel technology, available from FlexDex, offers surgeons an alternative to the robot for complex minimally invasive procedures by providing the same articulation and dexterity as robotics but in a totally mechanical and more cost-effective way.

Dr. Amodeo is working with other urologists to bring the FlexDex Needle Driver to other hospitals without a robot in Italy. According to a considerable amount of publicly available literature, the clinical benefits of minimally invasive surgery to patients, may include, reduced pain, reduced scarring, reduced wound infection and faster recovery compared to the open surgical approach.

“We are delighted to be the first European centre to utilise this technology to bring clinical advantages to patients where there is no robot available. There are already 5 hospitals in Italy using FlexDex for prostatectomy. It is well known that the learning curve for laparoscopy is steeper than for robotic surgery and instruments like the FlexDex Needle Driver may help to bridge this difference, providing an improved solution to the treatment of prostate cancer in a more cost-effective way than robotic surgery,” said Dr. Amodeo.

“Dr. Amodeo and his colleagues in Italy are leading the way in changing the trend for prostate surgery in Europe. The articulation and dexterity made available by the FlexDex technology will enable more surgeons to perform minimally invasive prostate surgery, bringing the undeniable clinical benefits to more patients around the world,” said Dr. James Geiger, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of FlexDex, Inc.

The first generation FlexDex Needle Driver is currently approved for sale in the United States, Europe, Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand and many counties in the Middle East. FlexDex is developing additional instruments that will enable surgeons around the world to perform advanced laparoscopic procedures without the need of a multi-million-dollar robotic system. FlexDex is democratizing minimally invasive surgery, by making their surgeon-powered robotic platform available in any operating room at any time.

About FlexDex Inc. 

FlexDex is an innovative medical device company that has developed a platform technology to provide surgeons with high performance and cost effective minimally invasive surgical instruments. The Company’s focus is to enable advanced minimally invasive procedures with greater precision and efficiency bringing the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to patients throughout the world. FlexDex was developed at the University of Michigan by co-founders Shorya Awtar, Sc.D., James Geiger, MD and Greg Bowles. This platform technology enables highly intuitive, one-to-one mapping of the surgeon’s arm and hand motions to the articulating instrument inside the patient’s body. The patented “Virtual Center™” of the FlexDex platform is a simple mechanical design that we believe, will greatly enhance the capabilities of all Minimally Invasive Surgical (MIS) instruments. The FlexDex Needle Driver, the first instrument of the FlexDex platform, has been granted the CE mark and is available for sale in the United States and internationally. For more information visit http://www.flexdex.com

Contact information

James Geiger, MD
Chief Executive Officer
info@flexdex.com
+1–810–522–9009 Office