HKPC and CUHK Medicine Innovation Brings Clear View to Surgeons - Surgical Smoke Evacuation Technology for Laparoscopic Surgery

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), in collaboration with the surgery team from Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has successfully developed a surgical smoke evacuation technology for laparoscopic surgery, a first in Hong Kong, which enables a clear laparoscopic view to enhance safety and efficiency of surgical operation.

At a briefing today (31 August 2016), Dr Lawrence Cheung, Director (Technology Development) of HKPC, said, "With smaller incisions and shorter recovery time, the applications of laparoscopic surgery – a kind of minimally invasive surgery, are on the rise. Yet the smoke generated by electrosurgical instruments often blocks the view of the surgeon and interrupts the surgical procedures. By leveraging HKPC's expertise in biomedical and precision engineering, this innovative surgical smoke evacuation system provides an engineering solution for surgeons to improve overall safety and coherence of the surgical processes."

This technology is distinguished with an aerodynamic design which instantaneously clears surgical smoke particles right in front of the laparoscope, enabling a clear vision for the surgeon. This can eliminate intra-operational laparoscope cleaning time caused by smoke particles adhesion, and shorten the surgery time.

The compact and snug design also supports most of the common laparoscopic surgical instruments without changing the current surgical setting and workflow. This user-friendly system is also easy to operate and install.

Earlier, Professor Philip Chiu, Director of both CUHK Jockey Club Minimally Invasive Surgical Skills Centre (MISSC) and Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, has conducted the animal tests and verified the effectiveness of the system.

Professor Chiu said, "The development of this new surgical smoke evacuation system will help surgeons in keeping a clear laparoscopic view to enhance surgical dissection and prevent complication during minimally invasive surgery."

While HKPC is preparing for clinical trial in the next stage, Dr Cheung said the local manufacturing sector can leverage this innovation to make headway in industrial upgrading. He said, "In addition to bringing benefits to the medical sector, and of course the patients, this HKPC innovation can act as a springboard for manufacturers eyeing on high value-adding medical device production."

Traditional manufacturing industries such as precision engineering and mechatronic engineering are likely to find new business opportunities through technology commercialization.

This R&D project was funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund of the HKSAR Government. For further information about the project, please contact Bryan So, Automotive & Electronics Division of HKPC, at tel. (852) 2788 5548 or email: bryanso@hkpc.org. For other media enquiries, please contact Chloe Chau at tel. (852) 2788 6158 or email: chloechau@hkpc.org.

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Mr Jonathan Ho
General Manager
Corporate Communication and Marketing
Tel: (852) 2788 6390
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
Email: jonathanho@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

31 August 2016

Dr Lawrence Cheung, Director (Technology Development) of HKPC (middle); Mr Bryan So, Principal Consultant, Automotive and Electronics Division of HKPC (right); and Prof Philip Chiu, Director of both CUHK Jockey Club Minimally Invasive Surgical Skills Centre and Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, introduce features of the surgical smoke evacuation technology for laparoscopic surgery.

Prof Philip Chiu demonstrates the surgical smoke evacuation technology.