R-One

Robocath has announced it has successfully completed six robotic coronary angioplasties with R-One, which a press release says is a first for the continent of Africa. Faizel Lorgat (Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa) performed the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures as part of a distribution agreement with Vertice MedTechGroup. A press release reports that these procedures will lead to the creation of a purpose-made register that will add to the company’s clinical database, while Robocath continues with a parallel European study of 60 patients.

According to the press release, Lorgat has completed more than 1,500 robot-assisted electrophysiology procedures and now plans to bring his expertise to bear for Robocath in the continuous improvement of R-One and subsequent generations of the device. He says: “It is an honour to be the first to use R-One in a clinical setting in South Africa. Six interventions have been successfully completed since the installation of the system in the hospital. I am delighted to integrate R-One into my day-to-day practice. I have been following this project closely for several years, as my experience with robotics in electrophysiology has clearly shown me all the benefits that such devices can have for our profession and ultimately, for the patient.”

Lucien Goffart, CEO of Robocath, says: “Dr Faizel Lorgat is a recognised interventional cardiologist who shares our vision of the future of interventional medicine. He was one of the first robotic operators worldwide in the vascular sector and we are delighted today to share with the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital team their satisfaction in completing this first for the continent of Africa.”

Founded in 2009 by Philippe Bencteux, Robocath designs, develops and commercialises robotic solutions to treat cardiovascular diseases. R-One is the first solution developed by Robocath. It is designed to optimise the safety of robotic-assisted coronary angioplasty.