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Versius robot adopted by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
CMR Surgical has announced Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust as the latest NHS Trust, and first site in London, to adopt the Versius robot. The renowned teaching hospital has adopted the versatile technology in order to increase patient access to minimal access (or keyhole) surgery across both of its London sites. Minimal access surgery is associated with a range of significant patient benefits including reduced recovery time, reduced scarring and reduced pain. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust hope that by bolstering its robotic programme with the new Versius robot, many more patients awaiting surgery in London will be able to receive this high quality care and, crucially, the surgeons themselves will also benefit from it. Prokar Dasgupta, honorary consultant urological surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas, and professor of surgery at King’s College London and King’s Health Partners, said: “While minimal access surgery is well-established as the peak of patient care, when performed manually, without the aid of robotics, it can be extremely demanding for surgeons – both physically and mentally. Versius could help us to improve surgeon wellbeing at this challenging time because it
has an ergonomic design, allowing surgeons to operate in much more comfortable, neutral positions. This has the potential to enable surgeons to operate for longer, while experiencing less pain and discomfort. “I have followed the progress of CMR for several years and I’m delighted to see Versius now in operation within the NHS. I am pleased to say that I have now completed a range of extremely successful clinical cases with the system.”
The multi-specialty programme has begun in the established urology department, and the robot is already helping surgeons to perform complex cases, including the first robotic prostatectomy in the UK with Versius.
Potential new treatment for COVID-19
Researchers have identified a potential new treatment that suppresses the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In order to multiply, all viruses, including coronaviruses, infect cells and re- programme them to produce novel viruses. The research revealed that cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 can only produce novel coronaviruses when their metabolic pentose phosphate pathway is activated. When applying the drug benfooxythiamine, an inhibitor of this pathway, SARS-CoV-2 replication was suppressed and infected cells did not produce coronaviruses. The research from the University of Kent’s School of Biosciences and the Institute of Medical Virology at Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, found the drug also increased the antiviral activity of ‘2-deoxy-D-glucose’; a drug which modifies the host cell’s metabolism to reduce virus multiplication.
This shows that pentose phosphate pathway inhibitors like benfooxythiamine are a potential new treatment option for COVID-19, both on their own and in combination with other treatments. Additionally, Benfooxythiamin’s antiviral
JANUARY 2022
Ben Challacombe, consultant urological
surgeon, Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “One of the key reasons we wanted to bring in Versius to the Trust was the small-scale and modular design which means that the individual robotic arms can be moved between hospital sites and departments. This means that a number of different procedures can be performed efficiently across our busy operating theatres and more patients will have access to innovative robotic technology.”
In the future, patients having colorectal and general surgeries at the Trust will also be able to benefit from robotic surgery with Versius.
CPAP ‘not linked to heightened
mechanism differs from that of other COVID-19 drugs such as remdesivir and molnupiravir. Therefore, viruses resistant to these may be sensitive to benfooxythiamin. Professor Martin Michaelis, University
of Kent, said: “This is a breakthrough in the research of COVID-19 treatment. Since resistance development is a big problem in the treatment of viral diseases, having therapies that use different targets provides further hope for developing the most effective treatments for COVID-19.” The study ‘Targeting the pentose phosphate pathway for SARS-CoV-2 therapy’ is published by the scientific journal Metabolites. Visit:
https://www.mdpi. com/2218-1989/11/10/699
infection risk’ The use of non-invasive breathing support (CPAP or HFNO), to treat moderate to severe COVID-19 infection, isn’t linked to a heightened infection risk, as currently thought. The findings of two studies, published online in the journal Thorax, show that both assisted breathing methods produced little measurable air or surface viral contamination, and not more than simple oxygen therapy, while coughing produced far more aerosol than either method. The findings prompted the researchers to call for a reassessment of the infection control measures deployed for these respiratory support methods, both of which have been categorised as ‘aerosol generating procedures that expose healthcare staff and other patients to a heightened infection risk’. Visit:
https://thorax.bmj.com/ content/early/2021/11/01/ thoraxjnl-2021-218035
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