Invuity, inc introduced its Eigr™ illumination technology at NASS 2014 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco November 12-15. This new illumination technology, Eigr™ Waveguide enhances the visibility of small and dark spaces for enhanced surgical safety and efficiency. Invuity is a surgical photonics company, and launched the Invuity Waveguide XT™ System, a universal, “drop in” illuminator for minimal access surgery at the North American Spine Society (NASS) Annual Meeting.
Eigr™ Waveguide
Enhanced Surgical Illumination.
A majority of surgical cases are being done through smaller incisions and the Eigr™ technology according to the website, “broadly projects thermally cool, brilliant light to uniformly illuminate deep, dark surgical cavities, providing unsurpassed visualization while virtually eliminating shadows, glare and thermal hazards.” This technology is included in an entire line of different retractors of many different sizes. The clinical applications for this new technology includes surgeries of the thyroid, breast, spine and hip as initial targets for the company.
Brighter and Safer Surgical Illumination
I had the great pleasure of speaking with Philip Sawyer, CEO of Invuity. He demonstrated the illumination superiority at the Invuity booth (see video) and clearly the drop in retractors did enhance visibility significantly and the advantages were readily evident. The Invuity platform uses the normal illumination boxes already present in the operating room, their fiber optic cables and end peices, the Eigr™ and Waveguide XT™ deliver widely dispersed illumination which is brighter and safer, the tips do not get hot as do normal fiberoptic light sources. This safety feature prevents surgical drapes from overheating and in some cases causing fires in the operating room. The patented technology describes variably angled facets within the illumination tip that disperse light in all directions. The retractors are reusable but the tips are disposable allowing for enhanced antimicrobial infection prevention.
Philip Sawyer CEO (left) Daniel Holtschlag VP Marketing (right)
Top Breast Surgeons speak about Eigr™ technology and superior surgical illiumination. The testimonials are compelling.
Invuity is gaining much traction with surgeons and has a very optimistic future and enhanced patient safety as well as decreasing physician fatigue in the operating room.