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Recently, Equipment Home learned that the Medtronic Neurovascular Laboratory Platform is expected to be officially launched on World Stroke Day , and the platform will serve as an incubator and accelerator for innovative stroke technology. For more than a year ago, the company has been working to create a neurovascular collaboration platform to accelerate stroke innovation outside the company.
It is understood that Dan Volz, president of Medtronic's neurovascular business, introduced the new platform on TeamTalks West this week. He said the new platform aims to help transform ideas and technology into new stroke therapies by providing insight, support and scalability to doctors and entrepreneurs. The platform covers cooperation in innovative technology research and development, clinical research, investment, commercialization and other stages. In addition, on October 19, local time, Medtronic also announced that the Hugo RAS surgical robot system has also obtained regulatory approval from Japan and has officially entered the Asia-Pacific market.
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Neurological intervention "Big Brother"
Medtronic started from cardiac pacemaker . After decades of development, it has become the world's largest medical device company. business has spread to more than 150 countries and regions around the world, expanding to more than 70 disease fields , covering cardiovascular, surgical business, neuroscience and diabetes and other fields.
It is also an unquestionable global leader in the field of neurointervention. According to the data from the "China Medical Device Blue Book", the market size of in 2018 was 4.8 billion yuan, showing a high concentration and a monopoly of foreign capital. Foreign-funded brands account for more than 80% of the domestic market share, while Medtronic alone accounts for 60% of the market share, making it a leading company in the neurointervention industry.
. Medtronic has truly ushered in the global leading stage in the field of neurointrusion. It started with the acquisition of Kehui Medical in 2015 for US$42.9 billion, becoming the most popular merger case in the history of medical devices at that time. Covidien acquired ev3, a neurointervention company established in 2000 for US$2.6 billion in 2010. It is a medical company focusing on interventional therapy and specializes in the peripheral and neurointervention markets. It has developed a series of products such as coil , balloons, microcatheters and microguidewires.
With the acquisition, Medtronic has successively introduced a variety of cutting-edge medical technologies and products such as liquid embolization system, spring coil, intracranial vascular stent, intracranial thrombectomy stent, blood flow-guided mesh stent, intracranial support catheter, balloon, microcatheter, microguidewire, etc., including the Solitaire FR intracranial thrombectomy stent, the core product of Kehui Medical, the product's open and curled patented design can help doctors better open blood vessels in extreme needle thrombectomy and bring better prognosis possibilities to patients. It was once called a new era of acute stroke care. has achieved full therapies for hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke ; the neurointervention product line since ev3 inherited has become one of Medtronic's leading businesses today.
has launched 32 neurointervention products in China. has the largest market share of neurointervention in China, and China is also the second largest market in Medtronic's neurointervention business in the world.
In fiscal year 2022, the company's annual revenue was US$31.686 billion, of which the revenue of the neuroscience product portfolio was US$8.784 billion, an increase of 7%, leading the growth rate of the other three business departments (cardiovascular 6%, surgery 5%, and diabetes 3%). In the field of neurointervention, companies are achieving double-digit growth every year.
02
Accelerate innovation and set up a neurovascular incubator
It is reported that the Medtronic Neurovascular Laboratory Platform is expected to be launched on World Stroke Day, and will serve as an incubator and accelerator for promising stroke technology. For most of the past year, Medtronic has been quietly building a neurovascular collaboration platform designed to accelerate stroke innovation outside the company. Dan Volz, president of Neurovascular Business at
Dan Volz
Dan Volz
Neurovascular Business said: "The new platform aims to help transform ideas and technologies into new stroke therapies by providing insight, support and scalability to doctors and entrepreneurs."
, especially in , inflation and supply chain difficulties, and coupled with market integration, as well as new European medical device regulatory requirements, medical device innovation has become particularly difficult, especially for startups, where innovation stagnation is a very wrong decision.
The Medtronic Neurovascular Laboratory Platform has the resources and expertise to incubate and accelerate based on its technical precipitation and advantages in the field of neurointervention. By launching the Medtronic Neurovascular Laboratory Platform, it supports new stroke technology concepts from concept to commercialization. Medtronic has received a lot of inquiries from doctor entrepreneurs in the stroke field, who are at different stages of the innovation cycle.
Four cooperation modes
It is understood that the Medtronic Neurovascular Laboratory platform has four cooperation channels. Entrepreneurs or researchers participating in can choose one of the four cooperation modes, depending on the location of their devices in the innovation cycle.
The first type is aimed at innovators with early ideas who need help developing ideas into prototypes. In this session, participants will benefit from Medtronic 's capabilities and expertise in product development and rapid prototyping.
The second cooperation model is suitable for early stage companies that want to upgrade their products from prototypes to the first human clinical research. In this collaboration model, participants can receive support in the form of sponsored development, dedicated experimental space and teams, and guidance.
also has an investment cooperation method, which is mainly suitable for companies that need funds. companies participating in this cooperation model may benefit from Medtronic Venture Capital (Medtronic Investment Company). and accelerated commercialization cooperation are suitable for preparing commercialized technologies, and participants will likely benefit from Medtronic's communication opportunities, technology demonstration opportunities, and even immersive programs.
Voltz said: "We can invite you to an immersive experience, you come and spend a few weeks with us, we collect around this concept, you must make a business plan."
Shanghai Incubator
It is understood that this is not the first time Medtronic has set up an innovation accelerator. As early as 2019, the company's world's first medical innovation accelerator was officially launched in Shanghai, China. is an innovation incubation acceleration platform established in Shanghai, China. Companies entering the incubator can rent and use the advanced laboratory equipment of Medtronic China R&D Center to obtain professional consulting services such as prototyping, testing, and quality control in product development process by Medtronic China R&D personnel. Some projects may also win equity venture capital in Medtronic China Fund.
In addition, Medtronic will also select high-quality projects to provide guidance on clinical trials, listing registration, etc., and consider using the company's production base in China, provides manufacturing solutions for innovative products, and at the same time opens Medtronic's own clinical training center, supports partner companies to carry out relevant clinical skills training.
03
Surgery robot enters the Asia-Pacific market
In addition to starting the neurovascular accelerator platform, Medtronic also recently announced that its Hugo™ robot assisted surgical system has obtained regulatory approval from Japan, opening up the way to enter the world's third largest robot market . It is reported that the system has obtained three important global market entry and indication extension approvals, including the urology and gynecological laparoscopic indications in Japan, as well as the previous European (CE) licensed general surgical indications; and the Health Canada General Laparoscopic Surgery Indications License.
It is reported that the Hugo RAS system is a modular multi-quadrant platform designed for a wide range of soft tissue surgery. Medtronic’s surgical robot system uses modular solutions that focus on overcoming barriers to cost and application of surgical robots. The Hugo RAS system includes a surgical tower, a console, a surgical arm and a robotic trolley. Currently Hugo has been used for general surgery in Asia-Pacific and Latin American hospitals. The surgery ranges from common to more complex, including cholecystectomy , inguinal hernia repair , gastric bypass and lower anterior resection . Hugo RAS has the following four main features:
Modular
is a modular system, that is, it has multiple independent components that can adapt to the needs of specific patients or hospital beds, and can be upgraded with the development of technology. The Hugo RAS comes with four surgical arms mounted on the cart, which provides great flexibility. For example, a doctor can push the surgery away after using the arm and then start the laparoscopic surgery using the same operating table. After the surgery, the hospital staff can loosen the system and roll it into another sterilized and prepared operating room so that the doctor can quickly start a new operation after a break.
versatility
Before Medtronic disclosed a partnership with Germany's KarlStorz SE&Co, integrating Karl Storz's three-dimensional vision system and visual components into Hugo RAS. The surgical tower of the Hugo RAS is equipped with a Storz visualization system, and the included endoscopy is also the standard length, meaning it can be removed from the robot system and used as a handheld device during laparoscopy surgery. The surgical tower also houses Medtronic's FT10 generator, designed specifically to power devices that emit energy during robotic surgery, and can also power laparoscopic and open surgical devices.
Upgradability
Rosengarten said that in the early design discussion, hospital management was very worried that the multi-million dollar invested in equipment such as surgical robots would be outdated. So Medtronic developed a system that will be upgraded in time with the development of technology without the need for a hospital to replace the entire system . This is especially important for visualization technologies integrated into the console.
Open
Hugo surgical console design has an open structure with foot pedals, so doctor can still interact with patients and OR personnel during the operation .
As a form of minimally invasive surgery, robot-assisted surgery provides patients with fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery of normal activities. This new system approval and indication will lay the foundation for a large number of applications in Europe, North America and Asia, and the expansion in the field of surgical robots has brought huge growth opportunities for the company.
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Medtronic Neurovascular Laboratory Platform is an incubator and accelerator for innovative stroke technology. It covers the cooperation model of innovative technology research and development, clinical research, investment, commercialization and other stages. After its official launch, it is expected to further increase Medtronic's influence in the field of stroke technology, and it is expected to increase the company's layout in the field of neurointervention by investing in startups. At present, many research teams are seeking cooperation with companies, and we will wait and see in the future.
