“The digital operating room of the future has arrived, and our surgeons will continue to be leaders in applying robotic technology, like the Senhance, to benefit our patients across a full range of procedures and specialties,” – Dr. Steve Eubanks, Florida Hospital

​RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Florida Hospital, a member of Adventist Health System, is the first U.S. hospital to purchase the robotic Senhance Surgical System from Triangle-based TransEnterix. The FDA recently approved Senhance for sale in the U.S.

“Our team of clinicians selected the Senhance Surgical System to further our minimally invasive offerings. We believe this robotic system will support our surgeons in maximizing their precision and control during procedures while minimizing costs,” said Florida Hospital’s Steve Eubanks, who is Executive Medical Director for the Institute for Surgical Advancement at Florida Hospital.

The system, which TransEnterix already offers for sale in other countries, becomes part of what Eubanks called “the digital operating system.”

  • VIDEO: Watch an overview of the Senhance system at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHhVfxb-NyY

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TransExterix recently sold one Senhance system in Taiwan, but does not yet have approval for clinical use. Clearance is expected in 2018, the company said in its latest earnings report last week.

Senhance is designed “to assist surgeons in performing minimally invasive surgery,” the company says. It “features multiple robotic arms that are controlled by a surgeon seated comfortably at a console. The surgeon controls small surgical instruments with robotic precision while at the same time moving a small scope that tracks the eye movement of the surgeon.”

Transenterix adds that the system “is the first surgical robotic system to offer the security of haptic force feedback that allows surgeons to feel the forces the instruments generate when handling delicate tissue.”

TransEnterix also is developing the SurgiBot System, which is designed to provide robotic assistance for laparoscopic surgery.

“Florida Hospital is a global leader in the application of next generation technologies to care for patients. It’s fitting that Florida Hospital will be the first in the United States to adopt this technology for patient care,” Transenterix CEO Todd Pope said in a statement. 

Florida Hospital is part of Adventist Health System, which includes 45 hospitals across nine states.