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After several years of development, Cambridge-based startup Robopsy is entering the home stretch in its quest to get to market with its disposable robotic diagnosis devices.
According to Robopsy’s founders, the portable system permits a radiologist to guide the needle very precisely during the lung cancer biopsy process. Using three-dimensional imaging, the Robopsy system — which includes the disposable robot attached to the patient, the control module hardware and a laptop-based interface and software — allows the radiologist to see the needle’s action in near real time.
The technology was jointly developed by experts at Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT. Since Robopsy first launched several years ago, the system has gone through two prototypes, explained co-founder Rajiv Gupta, MGH laboratory director for the department of radiology. The third prototype allows for more accuracy than the prior ones, and the software has become more sophisticated as new image guidance capabilities have been added to enhance the procedures, said Gupta. For instance, it is easier to use the interface to calculate the angle required for the biopsies.
However, the concept of the disposal robot remains. “You use it and chuck it,” said Gupta. “That has been where the heart of the invention lies: in the simplicity of the device.” Other robotic systems require cumbersome hardware that are difficult to operate, he said.
This is one of a number of examples of deploying robots in medical care, noted Marc Hodosh, the chairman of the annual Boston FIRST robotics competition. He is also president of technical conference sponsor TEDMED Inc., based in Brookline. Hodosh noted that Robopsy, like other robotics ventures, is exploiting the newer and ever-improving imaging technologies, as well. However, he hasn’t heard of using disposable robots prior to this, he said.
So far, Robopsy has spent $300,000, mostly in grants from the Boston-based nonprofit Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology. To keep costs down, it has relied on donated hours of both lab infrastructure and personnel. This will also allow it to start manufacturing more of the prototypes with a partner. The company is in talks with potential investors, and Gupta says it will cost about $3 million to get Robopsy through Phase 1 animal trials and Phase 2 human trials and to apply for a U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510k clearance to market the device.
While the intent is to focus on performing lung cancer biopsies, the device could also be used on the abdomen or other body parts. It could also be used in treatments, not just diagnostics — applied in radio frequency-based ablation procedures, said Gupta. “We perceive this as a new field,” he said.
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