A Medical Device Daily

Twelve winners from across Europe are recipients of 2008 Euro-NOTES Foundation (Velhoden, the Netherlands) research grants totaling €357,000 ($492,053), which will be divided among the winners.

The aim of the unrestricted grants is to support fundamental research on emerging natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) and has been made possible by support from Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Cincinnati).

The awards were presented at the second Euro-NOTES workshop in Brussels, Belgium, attended by gastroenterologists and surgeons throughout the region to discuss and debate the development and practice of NOTES.

Refinements in minimally invasive surgery have progressed to the point that even complex surgical procedures can be preformed in a minimally invasive fashion. These developments have set the stage for the development of even less-invasive methods such as NOTES.

NOTES is a surgical technique in which abdominal operations are performed by passing a flexible endoscope through natural orifices such as the mouth, vagina or anus and then through an internal incision e.g. in the stomach or colon.

NOTES is a new type of surgical procedure and is based on the concept of expanding potential benefits of less invasive surgery by minimizing physical discomfort associated with traditional procedures, avoiding visible scarring following surgery and reducing recovery time.