Robotic surgical software developer Medical Surgery Technologies said yesterday it broadcast the 1st-ever live image-guided, robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery with the aid of its AutoLap system.

The Israeli company’s AutoLap system is an image-guided robotically assisted laparoscopic positioning system designed to monitor surgeon’s movements in the surgical cavity and guide the laparoscope positioner in real time.

The procedure, a minimally invasive ovarian cystectomy, was broadcast at the VAAO Symposium for Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgery’s 2017 meeting in Münster, Germany.

“I have used AutoLap in more complex surgeries too, when all the advantages of the system are especially evident. I like having the option of switching between AutoLap’s different modes during the procedure,” operating physician Andreas Hackethal said after the broadcast.

“AutoLap is very different from any other system used for laparoscopic procedures, so the participants were excited to have the opportunity to see it being used live. To date, the system has been used with 25 different types of surgical procedures. The live case ovarian cystectomy was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the system’s advantages in a gynecological procedure,” MST’s regional sales director Holger Schipper said in a press release.

Last January, Medical Surgery Technologies said it won FDA 510(k) clearance for its Follow Me minimally invasive robotic surgery software, part of its larger AutoLap system.

The Follow Me software is designed to enable image-guided laparoscopes to follow laparoscopic surgical tools without manual control. The software allows surgeons to virtually tag the surgical tools within the surgical cavity, and interacts with the surgeons in-vivo movements and gestures to follow its tools in real time, MST said.