Nanjing, China, 2 May 2022 — Shanghai Intbot Robotics Co., Ltd. (MicroPort® Intbot™), a joint venture of Shanghai MicroPort MedBot (Group) Co. Ltd. (MicroPort® MedBot®) and Singapore company Biobot Surgical Pte. Ltd. (Biobot Surgical), recently announced that its Mona Lisa Robotic Prostate Puncture System (Mona Lisa) has completed all registered clinical trials, making it China’s first robotic prostate puncture system that has completed a multicenter clinical trial. This milestone, which marks a new breakthrough for MicroPort® MedBot® in the field of percutaneous puncture, is a key step in promoting precision diagnosis and treatment for patients living with prostate cancer.
The clinical trial was led by Prof. Hongqian and his team from the Gulou Hosptial, affiliated to the Medical School of Nanjing University (Nanjing Gulou Hospital). The trials were completed in collaboration with the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University and the Subei People's Hospital, led by Prof. Lei Li and Director Xuefei Ding, respectively. As of 29th April 2022, all clinical trials have been completed across all three centres. According to investigators at all centers, Mona Lisa was stable, safe, and smooth to operate, and has significant advantages over conventional manual punctures in terms of procedural safety, learning curve, and detection rate, giving it great clinical value.
Prof. Guo of the Nanjing Gulou Hospital said, “The clinical study has fully proved the advantages of Mona Lisa in improving the detection rates of prostate cancer, as well as considerably reducing risk of damage to the patient’s rectum and urethra. The R&D, clinical, and medical teams of MicroPort® Intbot™ have provided responsive and professional support. We look forward to the early marketing of Mona Lisa for the benefit of more patients.”
Prof. Lei Li of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University said, "Our hospital has been committed to promoting new technologies, such as robotic-assisted technologies and artificial intelligence in medical applications. Mona Lisa marks a new era in prostate puncture surgery, and its performance in clinic practices is further evidence of how the novel technology can help patients.”
Prostate cancer is the second most prevalent malignancy in the world. Early detection, diagnosis, and treatment are effective ways to improve patient survival. In China, the overall incidence rate of prostate cancer is only 0.16%, as early detection and diagnosis is not widely accessible. However, the detection rate of prostate cancer in China has been increasing annually in recent years with the rapid development and popularization of detection technology. Since prostate cancer is multifocal and scattered throughout the gland, it is not possible to confirm the diagnosis through traditional medical imaging methods, such as CT and MRI, and manual prostate biopsy is still commonly used in clinical practice. The effectiveness of prostate biopsy is hampered by inaccurate positioning, uneven puncture, and repeated punctures at the same point, thus it relies on the operator's experience and may result in higher risks of puncture complications.
Dr. Chao He, President of MicroPort® MedBot®, stated, "The Mona Lisa Robotic Prostate Puncture System has completed a multi-center clinical trial, marking a major step forward in the translation of basic research into clinical application for MicroPort® MedBot® in the field of percutaneous puncture. MicroPort® MedBot® will continue to step up its R&D and clinical investment for long-term development, and provide minimally invasive, intelligent, precise, and universally accessible robotics technology to give patients a better opportunity for extending and reshaping their lives.”
Mona Lisa benefits from the solid underlying technology system of MicroPort® Intbot™ and an innovative industrial incubation platform. Mona Lisa's intelligent software can create surgical plans to help clinicians complete various operations more efficiently. It has MRI-ultrasound fusion technology for 3D visualization, which, when combined with motion compensation and needle offset compensation technologies, helps doctors to perform biopsy sampling in a safe, accurate, intelligent, and efficient manner. As a result, the rate of underdiagnosis is lowered and the number of wounds is reduced, lessening patient pain.
Mr. Sim Kok Hwee, General Manager of Biobot Surgical, commented, "It is truly encouraging that the clinical trial of Mona Lisa was completed so efficiently under the leadership of MicroPort® MedBot®. We are delighted to partner with MicroPort® MedBot® to bring Mona Lisa to the Chinese market, and we sincerely hope that as Mona Lisa becomes more widely used around the world, particularly in China, it will benefit more patients and contribute to improving human health.”
About MicroPort® MedBot®
By addressing the need for cutting-edge, minimally invasive surgeries, MicroPort® MedBot® (Stock code: 02252.HK) has been dedicated to driving research and industrial integration in the fields of robotics, intelligent control, sensing and information, to provide intelligent total surgical solutions that innovatively prolong and reshape life. Currently, MicroPort® MedBot® is the only surgical robot company in the world with businesses covering five promising subsectors of surgical robots, including endoscopy, orthopedics, vascular intervention, natural cavity, and percutaneous punctures.
About MicroPort® Intbot™
MicroPort® Intbot™, a joint venture between Biobot Surgical and MicroPort® MedBot®, was established in China to create an integrated platform for the production, research, and development of Mona Lisa, as well as to develop its own product manufacturing and R&D system, and popularize new therapies enabled by Mona Lisa.