Zhejiang University Licenses Key Patent for Surgical Dissector and Integrated Robotic System in $1M Deal

Recently, Zhejiang University and Hangzhou Kangji Wiseking Medical Robot Co., Ltd. completed“Surgical Dissector and Surgical Robot Incorporating the Same”Public Notice on the Assignment of Invention Patent: This Core Technology Patent in Minimally Invasive Surgery Has Officially Completed Industrialization and Commercialization Matching. The Transaction Adopts Agreed Pricing, with the Transfer Fee Including1 million yuan base fee and subsequent sales commissions, Zhejiang University shall enjoy50%share of the proceeds, signifying that this innovative technology, emerging from the laboratory, has officially entered the stage of clinical translation and market application. This patent is held byChen Mingyu and his teamR&D.

In surgical clinical practice, liver diseases, biliary tract diseases, and other conditions are common ailments.Laparoscopic Hepatectomy and CholecystectomyMinimally invasive surgery is the mainstream approach for treating such conditions. Leveraging advantages such as minimal trauma, reduced pain, and rapid recovery, it significantly lowers postoperative recovery costs and patient suffering. However, constrained by the size of surgical incisions, it suffers from inherent limitations, including a narrow field of view and limited operational freedom. These drawbacks increase surgical difficulty and prolong operative time, while also predisposing surgeons to fatigue and wrist tremors, thereby directly compromising procedural precision.

Among these, laparoscopic liver resection is a highly challenging minimally invasive procedure due to the liver’s fragile texture, rich blood supply, complex anatomy with frequent variations, and high risk of intraoperative bleeding, which impose stricter requirements on the flexibility and precision of instrument manipulation. To overcome the operational limitations of minimally invasive surgery,Surgical Robots Have Become Core Clinical Assistive DevicesIt expands the operational range and optimizes the surgical field of view through robotic arms, assisting surgeons in performing precise maneuvers. Currently, mainstream minimally invasive surgical robots consist of a surgeon console and a surgical arm system. Within the surgical arm system, the instrument-holding arm is used to grasp surgical dissectors and perform actions such as tissue cutting and dissection according to the surgeon’s commands.

In current clinical practice, the surgical anatomizers compatible with surgical robots are mostlyUltrasonic Scalpel, as an electronic surgical instrument that serves as an alternative to the mechanical scalpel, it is widely used in various hepatobiliary surgeries. However, existing ultrasonic scalpels adopt a rigid-shaft design, with tips that cannot adjust their angle through bending. This severely limits operational flexibility, making them ill-suited for complex and variable surgical scenarios and unable to precisely reach lesion sites for refined procedures.

In addition to the core limitation of insufficient tip flexibility, existing clinical approaches exhibit significant shortcomings: traditional surgical dissectors offer limited functionality, requiring instrument exchanges for dissection, electroresection, electrocoagulation, suction, and irrigation. This not only prolongs operative time but also increases the risk of intraoperative infection and instrument wear-and-tear costs. Furthermore, some devices with basic articulation capabilities suffer from poor structural design, leading to inadequate bending stability and imprecise angle control. These instruments are prone to unintended movement during surgery, failing to ensure precise and controllable manipulation, thereby further amplifying surgical risks.

Therefore, there is an urgent clinical need for a surgical dissector that combines multi-dimensional bending adjustment capabilities, integrated multifunctionality, and stable operational performance. This device must overcome the limitations of rigid-shaft designs by enabling flexible, multi-directional adjustment of the tip to precisely adapt to complex surgical fields. It should also integrate multiple surgical functions to reduce the frequency of instrument exchanges. Furthermore, it must feature a stable bending control mechanism to ensure precise and controllable manipulation, thereby enhancing the safety, precision, and efficiency of minimally invasive surgery.

This surgical dissector and its accompanying surgical robot are designed to“Precision Control, Multifunctional Integration, Stable and Reliable”As the core design philosophy, it has achieved multiple breakthroughs in technical structure and functional implementation, establishing significant innovative advantages.

First, multi-dimensional flexible adjustment breaks through operational limitations,An innovative design features a bending assembly comprising traction units and mating joints. The tensioning or relaxation of the traction units is precisely controlled via the transmission mechanism within the instrument’s drive box, thereby driving the tool tip to achieve multi-directional, multi-dimensional bending adjustments. Four traction units are arranged circumferentially and uniformly around the flexible connector, working in conjunction with at least three axially spaced mating joints to enable flexible bending of the tool tip in various directions. Combined with the gear meshing design in the transmission mechanism, the tool tip can simultaneously perform circumferential rotation, providing two-dimensional angular adjustment capability.

Second, the multifunctional integrated design enhances surgical efficiency.The instrument tip features an integrated, multi-functional design. Its tapered, beveled apex enables tissue dissection, while the conductive material provides electrosurgical capabilities for cutting, coagulation, and resection. The hollow core connects to a suction tube, allowing simultaneous aspiration and irrigation, thereby comprehensively addressing the core requirements of minimally invasive surgery in a single device. Additionally, the relief design on the joint maximizes the bending angle, further expanding the operational range.

Third, a stable and controllable structure ensures surgical safety.The joints are connected via interlocking teeth, creating appropriate gaps between adjacent joints to ensure a smooth transition during bending. A limit stop is installed on one side of the interlocking teeth to effectively prevent joint displacement. The number of joints can be flexibly adjusted, and when paired with a rigid traction section, it ensures precise and controllable adjustment of the tool head angle.

Fourth, it features strong adaptability and is easy to promote.The device features a concise and compact overall structure, allowing direct mounting onto the robotic arms of existing minimally invasive surgical robots without modifying the main equipment. Its transmission system supports both manual knob operation and PLC-programmed automatic control, accommodating the operational preferences and technical capabilities of different hospitals. With a rational layout of core components and mature manufacturing processes, the design balances practicality with feasibility for widespread adoption.

In summary,This surgical dissector and its accompanying robotic system are designed with a core focus on precise manipulation, multifunctional integration, and stable reliability, achieving multiple innovations in both structure and function to establish significant technical advantages.It achieves multi-dimensional bending and circumferential rotation of the instrument tip through the coordinated action of multiple traction units and multi-joint mechanisms, thereby overcoming the limitations of traditional operations. The integrated tip combines dissection, electrosurgical cutting and coagulation, and suction/irrigation functions, providing a one-stop solution for minimally invasive surgical needs. The joint engagement and limiting structures ensure smooth bending and precise, controllable angle adjustment, enhancing surgical safety. With its compact design, the device is directly compatible with existing minimally invasive robotic arms, supports both manual and automatic dual-control modes, and demonstrates strong clinical practicality and potential for widespread adoption.

This patent transfer represents a significant practice in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements at Zhejiang University. It not only builds a critical bridge for the industrialization of innovative technologies but also promises to have a profound impact on the field of minimally invasive surgery. The widespread adoption of this technology will effectively overcome the operational limitations of traditional surgical instruments, enhance the precision and safety of complex minimally invasive procedures, reduce surgical duration, lower infection risks and medical costs, and provide more reliable instrumental support for minimally invasive surgeries across medical institutions at all levels. Furthermore, its independently developed technical solutions will promote the domestic development of surgical robotic devices in China, narrow the technological gap with high-end international equipment, and inject new momentum into the balanced allocation of medical resources and the high-quality development of the healthcare industry.

Da Vinci Surgical Robot (Intuitive Surgical, USA)Equipped with specialized anatomical instruments from the EndoWrist series,Including electric scissors, ultrasonic dissectors, bipolar graspers, and vessel-sealing dissectors, all equipped with 7-degree-of-freedom (7-DOF) wrist joints capable of 360° flexible rotation. These instruments enable integrated procedures such as sharp dissection, blunt separation, and vascular dissection and sealing, meeting the demands for precise dissection in confined surgical cavities. Their applications span major departments including urology, gynecology, general surgery, and thoracic surgery, serving as core equipment for complex procedures such as laparoscopic radical tumor resection, organ removal, and lymph node dissection, suitable for delicate dissection of soft tissues and blood vessels at multiple sites. The core advantages lie in the precision and stability of dissection operations; they filter out hand tremors and, combined with 3D high-definition visualization, allow clear identification of tiny blood vessels and nerves, significantly reducing the risk of tissue damage during dissection. Furthermore, the diverse range of instrument types allows flexible switching based on surgical needs, accommodating operational requirements across different dissection scenarios.

MicroPort® Toumai® Laparoscopic Surgical Robot (MicroPort® MedBot, China) independently developed EndoSmart series of dissecting instruments,The system encompasses instruments such as electrosurgical hooks, ultrasonic dissectors, and vessel sealing forceps. Equipped with 7-degree-of-freedom (7-DOF) wrist joints, it enables precise dissection procedures including lymph node dissection and vascular skeletonization. The instruments are compatible with imported consumables of the same type, thereby reducing clinical transition costs. Certain dissection instruments also feature haptic feedback, allowing surgeons to perceive operational force and further enhancing dissection precision. Its application areas highly overlap with those of benchmark imported products, covering urology, gynecology, general surgery, and thoracic surgery. It supports procedures such as radical prostatectomy, radical resection for colorectal cancer, and lobectomy, and has been successfully applied in high-difficulty dissection surgeries such as pancreatic cancer resection, precisely meeting the mainstream domestic demand for minimally invasive dissection. Its core advantage lies in being a representative of high cost-performance among domestically produced alternatives; key technical indicators for dissection match those of imported products, satisfying the requirements for complex clinical dissection procedures. The prices of both equipment and consumables are significantly lower than those of imported products, aligning with the procurement budgets of domestic hospitals. Furthermore, it supports the decentralization of medical resources in China and enables 5G remote surgery, facilitating cross-regional sharing of high-quality dissection techniques.

The core of the Symani microsurgical robot (MMI, Italy) is the NanoWrist microsurgical dissection instrument,Featuring dedicated microsurgical scissors and forceps, this set comprises specialized fine dissection instruments designed for microsurgery. Offering greater degrees of freedom, it enables microscopic torsion, flexion, and extension movements unachievable by the human hand, allowing gentle handling of minute blood vessels and soft tissues. It facilitates controlled microscopic tissue dissection and vascular preparation, making it suitable for ultra-fine anatomical procedures. Its applications are focused on the niche sector of microsurgery, primarily covering departments requiring ultra-precise dissection, such as hand and foot surgery, neurosurgery, and ophthalmology. It supports procedures including peripheral nerve repair, microvascular anastomosis, and ocular microscopic tissue dissection, and is particularly well-suited for microsurgical reconstruction procedures demanding extremely high anatomical precision.

Its core advantage lies in being the world’s first robot approved for microsurgery of soft tissues. It offers microscopic anatomical precision far surpassing that of traditional surgery and conventional laparoscopic robots, specifically addressing the industry pain point of “limited manual dexterity” in microsurgical procedures. It enables precise tissue dissection within a confined visual field, significantly reducing the risk of vascular and nerve injury during microscopic dissection. With its flexible instrument manipulation, it facilitates end-to-end microscopic dissection “from incision to suturing,” thereby filling a gap in the market for microsurgical robots.

Surgical dissectors, as core ancillary instruments for surgical robots, boast broad market prospects. The widespread adoption of minimally invasive surgery has created rigid demand, while the accelerated pace of domestic substitution is enabling local products to rapidly penetrate hospitals at all levels through their high cost-performance ratio and compatibility with consumables; meanwhile, imported brands continue to dominate the high-end market. Technologically, these devices are iterating towards higher degrees of freedom, force feedback, and AI-based intelligent recognition, adapting to various surgical scenarios such as laparoscopy and microsurgery. Upgrades toward single-port and further minimally invasive approaches are expanding application boundaries. The industry employs a “equipment + consumables” business model, where the high stickiness of consumables generates recurring revenue. Looking ahead, driven by technological localization, policy support, and the development of remote surgery, the market size is expected to continue growing, offering significant potential for both import substitution by domestic devices and overseas expansion.