Robotic assisted Upper GI cancer surgery with Novel Sentire System

Robotic assisted gastrectomy and esophagectomy has emerged as a minimally invasive surgical (MIS) approach for patients with gastroesophageal cancer. Compared with laparoscopic procedure, robotic system allows for safe dissection and reconstruction under magnified 3D view with dexterity of endo-wristed instruments. Previous studies found that robotic gastrectomy was associated with reduced post-operative complications and blood loss.
The main hurdle of generalizability of robotic techniques is due to the high cost of the procedures and lack of accessibility to the robotic system. Less than 5% of MIS in the world was done in robotic approach. Our team has thus been working with engineers from the University in developing a novel robotic system that could provide comparable performance with existing systems at a lower cost. After undergoing numerous ex-vivo and in-vivo animal and cadaveric trials, the “Sentire” robotic platform (Cornerstone Robotics), the system ready for clinical use, was finally put on clinical trial in 2023, including performance of robotic assisted gastrectomy for gastric cancer and recently, robotic assisted esophagectomy for esophageal cancers.
Further collaboration and development of the Sentire system is currently underway and it is expected that it would be one of the most reliable and cost-effective system in the robotic surgery field.