The Daewoong Pharmaceutical affiliate is betting on hands-on training to put its navigation-based spine robot in the hands of more surgeons in Korea and abroad.
CGBio is stepping up its push behind the CUVIS-spine surgical robot. The Daewoong Pharmaceutical affiliate has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital on robotic endoscopic spine surgery training, making CUVIS-spine the centerpiece of a new program for Korean and overseas doctors. The courses will run through the Hallym Robotic Endoscopic Spine Surgery Training Center, which opened on Nov. 9, the same day CGBio announced the agreement. The two partners plan to build a training system that combines spine surgery robots with navigation technology and to work toward standardizing biportal endoscopic spine surgery.
For a company selling a surgical robot, getting surgeons comfortable with the system is half the battle. CGBio signed an exclusive domestic distribution agreement with developer Curexo in January this year and now handles CUVIS-spine sales and marketing in Korea. The Hallym partnership gives it a dedicated venue where doctors can learn the robot step by step, from planning to use in the operating room. The move also marks a strategic shift. CGBio plans to use the partnership to expand beyond its existing spinal implant business into surgical robots and medical training.
“To learn a new surgical technique, doctors need to be able to follow the whole process, from the planning stage through the actual use of the equipment in surgery,” said Yoo Hyun-seung, chief executive of CGBio. “We will expand opportunities for doctors in Korea and abroad to learn and practice robotic spine surgery firsthand.”
CUVIS-spine is a navigation-based spine surgery robot. Drawing on patient imaging data, it lets surgeons plan the insertion point, angle and trajectory of spinal screws before the operation begins. During surgery, the system helps guide instruments along the planned path. That carries the decisions made at the planning stage into the operating room, a key step in procedures where screw placement demands high accuracy. That plan-then-execute workflow is exactly what the new center is designed to teach. Trainees will not just watch the robot at work; they will learn how to fit it into the full surgical process.
The hospital established the training center on the strength of ten years of clinical and research experience in biportal endoscopic spine surgery. In this minimally invasive technique, an endoscope and surgical instruments are inserted through two small incisions to treat the affected area. Professors Park Hyun-jin and Yoo Ki-han of the hospital’s spine center have conducted clinical research on the procedure. The hospital introduced CUVIS-spine ahead of the center’s opening, and Park performed the hospital’s first spine operation using the system on Oct. 8.
About CGBIO
CGBIO Co., Ltd.. is a total healthcare provider with a goal of enhancing the quality of life by offering range of innovative solutions for the spectrum of spinal disorders and wound management. Through extensive research activity, CGBIO is a leading manufacturer and distributor of comprehensive portfolio of allograft and synthetic bone grafts, spinal implants, GMP grade growth factors and total wound care solution. CG Bio has state of the art facility with class 100 clean rooms, purified water system fit for human injection and qualified technicians. http://www.cgbio.co.kr