A Medical Device Daily

Immersion Medical (Gaithersburg, Maryland), a subsidiary of Immersion (San Jose, California), has agreed to market and sell a virtual reality arthroscopy surgical simulator made by GMV (Madrid, Spain).

Immersion said that it would exhibit GMV's insightArthroVR this week at the annual meeting of the Arthroscopy Association of North America (Rosemont, Illinois) in Washington.

"GMV and Immersion Medical are focused on providing high-fidelity virtual reality simulators that can help physicians acquire the skills needed for minimally invasive surgery," said Jorge Potti, director of advanced healthcare technologies at GMV. "Because arthroscopy is such a fast-growing field, it is vital that the insightArthroVR simulator be made available to arthroscopic practitioners worldwide, and Immersion Medical is the organization that can do that."

According to GMV, the number of arthroscopy procedures has rapidly increased over the last decade, with knee arthroscopy one the most commonly performed surgical procedures. However, the company noted, a 2002 survey found that the most frequent source of arthroscopy training for rheumatologists was informal training under the supervision of a trained colleague.

The insightArthroVR incorporates a computer, touch-screen, proxy arthroscopic camera, tools, interchangeable interface model (shoulder or knee), and training software. Training modules include basic training, intended to help users acquire the skills needed for camera and tool handling, shoulder arthroscopy and knee arthroscopy.

GMV says the system simulates the look and feel of minimally invasive shoulder and knee surgeries, such as subacromial decompression, where the inflamed bursa is removed to allow inspection of the rotator cuff and ACL reconstruction.

Several cases encompassing a wide variety of anatomies and pathologies are provided to help users smoothly advance in their proficiency. Automated skill indicators provide an objective evaluation of user progress, the company added.

In other agreement news:

• Echo Therapeutics (Franklin, Massachusetts) said it has signed a dermatology product and transdermal drug delivery technology right of first offer agreement with Cato BioVentures the venture capital affiliate of Cato Research (Durham, North Carolina). Echo said it would have exclusive rights of first negotiation to all dermatology product and transdermal drug delivery technology opportunities identified or acquired by Cato BioVentures.

Echo is developing a needle-free, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring (tCGM) system for diabetics and for use in hospital critical care units.