How would you like to stand over a table with your arms outstretched in front of you, performing delicate movements on which a person’s life depended, for four to six hours at a time? Do you think your arms would get tired? What about your back? Yet, many surgeons performing laparoscopic surgery (otherwise known as minimally invasive surgery) face this situation every day.
Vancouver-based medical equipment manufacturer, Pedigo Products Inc., will soon be manufacturing the ETHOS Ergonomic Surgical Platform, which places the surgeon in line with the surgical field and supports the surgeon’s chest, arms and back. The goal of the product, according to Pedigo CFO Joel Richter, is to alleviate surgeons’ tension and muscle fatigue.
Currently in the final prototype stage, Richter said his company plans to begin manufacturing the surgical platform some time during the third quarter. They are also in the process of patenting the product, which was the brainchild of Dr. Craig Turner, M.D., a surgeon in Beaverton. Turner and Pedigo partnered to form ETHOS Surgical LLC, in March 2011.
Richter said robotic surgical techniques for laparoscopic surgery also address surgeon fatigue, but have several drawbacks, such as very high cost (up to $1.2 million), a steep learning curve (it can take 50 to 200 robotic procedures for a surgeon to become adept) and a lack of tactile feedback for the surgeon during the operation.
While Richter stressed that the ETHOS platform would not replace robotic surgical techniques, he called it an “alternative,” with several advantages: a price tag of only about $70,000, it leverages hands-on bedside training surgeons have already received, and the surgeon remains at the patient’s side for observation during the surgery, which, according to the ETHOS website, can improve patient safety.
Richter said his company has already taken the ETHOS prototype to several tradeshows and is actively pursuing both the European and domestic markets.
“We’ve had nothing but positive feedback from the surgical community,” said Richter.
Pedigo is a family-owned business started in 1947. It has been located in Vancouver since 1993, when it moved here from California, which Richter characterized as crowded and expensive with a “challenging regulatory environment.” The company’s COO, Rick Pedigo, is the third generation to run the firm. The company employs about 120 people at their 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on Columbia Boulevard.
Richter said that Pedigo’s sales of medical equipment, which includes stretchers, IV stands, surgical tools and more, were about $8 million in 2000; they have quadrupled that figure in the intervening years.
“We attribute the company’s success to excellent customer service and a quality product,” he said.
