Medtronic Appoints Dr. James Porter as Chief Medical Officer for Robotic and Digital Technologies

Dr. Porter is a practicing urological surgeon with experience in more than 5,000 robot-assisted surgeries, recognized as one of the global leaders in the surgical community and one of the top robotic surgery doctors in the United States.

He is skilled atProstate Cancer, Kidney Cancer, and Urological Surgery, making significant contributions to the field of urology, including the improvement of various pioneering surgical techniques for treating kidney tumors and testicular cancer in young men.

Dr. Porter stated that surgery is rapidly evolving due to the development of robotics and digital technology, with Medtronic's Hugo™ and Touch Surgery™ technologies at the forefront in this area.

Before joining Medtronic, Dr. PorterMedical Director of Robotic Surgery at Providence Swedish in Seattle, Washington, helping to establish one of the largest multi-specialty robotic surgery programs in the United States. He will continue to perform surgeries part-time at Providence Swedish.

As the CMO of robotics and digital technology in Medtronic's surgical business, Dr. Porter will drive the strategic direction focused on patients, robotic and digital innovations, clinical evidence programs, as well as physician and community engagement.

He will also attend the European Robotic Urology Symposium (ERUS) in Bordeaux, France, and use the Hugo™ system to demonstrate a partial nephrectomy during the live surgery session of the conference.

The 24th European Robotic Urology Society (ERUS) conference was held in Bordeaux, France, from September 11 to 13, 2024.

The conference will focus on practical guidance for robotic surgery through live surgeries, case discussions, and state-of-the-art lectures. In addition, the conference will also offer opportunities for industry meetings, European School of Urology (ESU) courses, and technical forums.

Medtronic, as the Platinum Sponsor of the ERUS conference,The Hugo™ surgical robot and Touch Surgery™ ecosystem, including the recently added Live Stream technology, will be demonstrated at the booth.

On May 24, 2024, Medtronic announced the launch of additional clinical studies for its Hugo robotic-assisted surgery system to expand its indications to hernia repair and gynecological fields.

Two Clinical Studies:The U.S. clinical trial began with a robot-assisted bilateral inguinal hernia repair surgery at Duke University Hospital in Durham, performed by Dr. Jacob Greenberg, the national principal investigator of the trial.

This clinical trial is a prospective, multi-center study evaluating the safety and performance of Hugo RAS to support FDA submission.

In addition, Medtronic has also launched a program aimed atProspective Clinical Study of Gynecological Surgery。

Previously, Medtronic launched the first IDE study, Expand URO clinical trial, for its Hugo surgical robot.The research focuses on urological surgeries, such as prostatectomy, radical cystectomy, and nephrectomy (partial or radical). Urological surgeries are also currently the most common type of soft tissue procedures performed by surgical robots.

In October 2021, Medtronic's Hugo RAS system received EU CE certification, gaining approval for sales in Europe for use in urology and gynecological surgeries. This marks an important milestone in the commercialization of the Hugo RAS system.

In July 2024, Medtronic announced that its Touch Surgery digital surgical system had updated its live streaming functionality, including 14 new AI algorithms that enhance postoperative analysis capabilities, providing AI-based surgical insights for laparoscopic surgical robots and other robot-assisted surgeries.

On July 15, Medtronic's Digital Surgery division announced on LinkedIn that the new live streaming feature has been commercially launched in the United States and other regions.

This live streaming feature update can create an immersive learning environment with the advantage of actual presence.The company aims to help surgeons acquire professional skills, allowing surgeons, interns, and operating room managers to initiate or participate in live broadcasts, gaining access to high-quality frontline surgical education resources.

According to Medtronic,The live broadcast features a series of surgical procedures, including laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, and robot-assisted hysterectomy.

Touch Surgery also provides hospitals with an AI-driven surgical video management platform and digital solutions, which is the world's first AI-powered surgical video storage and analysis platform.

• Upload surgical videos within minutes, and Touch Surgery will anonymize them to ensure privacy.

• Subsequently, the AutoPhase™ platform developed by the company will automatically return the surgical process analysis results within 72 hours, performing phase-time analysis on specific surgical procedures selected by the user.

• Users can add content annotations to surgical videos and access them on their mobile phones.

Touch Surgery is the first artificial intelligence-driven surgical video and analytics platform, representing a significant leap forward in the field of digital surgery.

Medtronic is a global leading medical technology company, established in 1949, with its headquarters located in Minnesota, USA. Medtronic's main product lines focus on four major businesses: cardiovascular, surgical and critical care, neuroscience, and diabetes, covering products and service systems in the treatment areas of arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiac intervention, heart valve replacement, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, urinary system diseases, spinal diseases, neurological disorders, and otolaryngology.

As a technology company, Medtronic is also committed to researching and developing new medical technologies to improve patients' quality of life. The company has numerous R&D centers and production bases worldwide, with a total workforce exceeding 90,000 employees.Medtronic's business covers more than 150 countries and regions worldwide,

On May 23, 2024, Medtronic released its latest financial report.Total revenue in 2023 was $31.227 billion (approximately 224.8 billion RMB), with a net profit margin of 12%, ranks second in sales volume in the global medical device market.