A laparoscopic tool, which combines a grasper, a hook and scissors, and which is intended to simplify keyhole surgery, was launched by the Department of Industrial Manufacturing Engineering of the University of Malta yesterday.
Minimising invasive surgery is beneficial, in that it leaves smaller scars, less bleeding, a lower chance of complications and a shorter recovery time, project coordinator, Professor Jonathan Borg explained.
He admitted that this does however has its drawbacks, including indirect vision, indirect manipulation and the fact that the procedures take longer, due to multiple swapping of tools.
The motivation for the project came from the department’s genuine interest in Malta’s manufacturing industry, and will to reshape it and make it more competitive, Prof. Borg said.
Moreover it also happened to correlate with the National Research and Innovation strategy, as high value-added manufacturing is one of the platforms of strategic importance.
Malta Council for Science and Technology chairman Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said that this occasion was slightly different from others, as the research project was actually completed and it is possible to actually appreciate its concrete benefits.
The R&I programme is all about seeing the result of perseverance, he said, which is what MCST was set up for; to facilitate research and raise the standard and profile of science, technology, research and innovation.
“To see a project of this calibre materialise and published on international scientific publications worldwide encourages us to continue doing our best, to assist all those who venture in this field,” he went on.
Malta has a number of forward-looking and successful companies, but it also has its weaknesses, such as the fact that products tend to remain limited to traditional domains.
He explained that they sat down together to see what they could do about designing and promoting a micro-scale, biomedical device, to minimise invasive surgery.
The department was awarded the National R&I grant, and began work to develop a novel laparoscopic surgery tool. He explained that it wanted to develop an ICT-based tool, to aid design of such tools in the future.
The concept was about creating a small tool to combine the tools, although we did encounter problems, including increased tool wear and increased tool vibrations, he said.
“We began to develop the solution – coming up with different ideas, and then we started developing physical prototypes. The first one was rather large, but this one measures just 35mm by 10mm,” he said.
Spin-offs of the project include the training of multi-disciplinary graduates and post-graduates, transfer of knowledge to industry, exposure to new problems and opportunities and filing of patents.
Feedback received about the product includes that the principle is “definitely correct and makes a lot of sense,” and that it is “absolutely worth it”. The project was granted around €200,000 and was expected to take around two years, although it took slightly longer.
The next stage is to try to go for commercialisation, Prof. Borg said, adding that although surgeons have been cautiously optimistic, it is not certain what reaction they will have.
Commercialisation is something that MCST is looking at, Director of National Funding Eric Flask said, as it is not enough to carry out research, before shelving it and forgetting all about it.
Nicholas Sammut, MCST Vice Chairman and CEO, said this was part of the 2004 call for projects, which had funded around 38 projects, amounting to around €4 million.
He also said that the waiting period for project applications was down to three months, which is very positive, and that they have established set periods every year for applications, so researchers can plan.
The focus is on four major areas, as the problem before was fragmentation, and these are high value-added manufacturing, ICT, energy and the environment and health and biotechnology.
“In conclusion it was an enriching experience and we saw that it is worth carrying out further research,” Prof. Borg said.