New device for bloodless operations used in USA for the first time
08 September 2005
A new device for removing liver tumours with virtually no blood loss has been used successfully for the first time in America.
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- Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
- Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
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The Habib 4X resection device is named after its inventor Professor Nagy Habib, Professor of Hepato-Biliary Surgery at Imperial College, and chief of service for gastrointestinal surgery at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust in west London.
The revolutionary new device uses radiofrequency energy to 'seal' tissue around a tumour site, allowing the tumour to be removed while preventing blood loss and other complications. The device has enabled surgeons to operate where previously it would have been too risky.
Before use of the device in the UK for the removal of liver tumours, patients often lost up to ten pints of blood during the operation. Now, less than 50ml (an egg-cup full) is lost, and the patient spends less time in hospital intensive care.
Over 100 patients have been operated on with the new device since October 2004, and none have died or suffered serious illness after the operation. The average hospital stay has been reduced from two weeks to eight days. When patients were followed up over a period of between two and 20 months, tumours had not returned in any of them.
"The liver is the second commonest site of cancer in the body," comments Professor Habib, "so the potential of the Habib 4X is huge. The first use of the device in America is a significant and exciting milestone as we continue to develop the potential of radio frequency and microwave technologies for surgery."
After developing the technology, Professor Habib formed an Imperial College spinout company, EMcision, which has a worldwide licence agreement with US-based RITA Medical Systems. The Habib 4X received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in August and the first operation using the Habib 4X took place last week at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, near Los Angeles. The Habib 4X is already licensed for use in Europe.
As part of the licensing deal, the Habib 4X will be made available to developing countries in Africa at cost price.
