Public hospital Klinikum Chemnitz is now home to the first Versius Surgical Robotic System in Germany.

Designed by CMR Surgical, the solution is designed to increase access to robotic minimal access surgery by being able to fit into virtually any operating room setup, and will be used by the Saxony-based hospital in a broad range of laparoscopic procedures. Klinikum Chemnitz will also work with international experts in an early-stage clinical program to assess its use in thoracics.

“Versius has a unique and versatile design, meaning that it is simple to set up and adapt to the individual needs of different procedures, which is extremely helpful for both a surgeon and the surgical teams. It can also be moved easily between operating theatres, meaning that multiple teams working across different disciplines can benefit from a Versius,” said Dr. Sven Seifert, chief physician of the Clinic for Thoracic, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Klinikum Chemnitz, in a statement.

Versius can integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, according to CMR surgical, and has a portable and modular design that allows surgeons to only use the number of arms needed for a given procedure. It has been used in over 1,000 clinical cases across Europe, Australia and India, and its installation in Germany is seen as a milestone by the company due to the country being one of the largest surgical robotics markets in Europe. The German government recently invested €3 billion in funding to boost digitization in hospitals, which includes increasing surgical robotics.

The solution biomimics the human arm, which gives surgeons the choice of optimized port placement and the dexterity and accuracy of small fully-wristed instruments. It also offers 3D HD vision for easy-to-adopt instrument control and a choice of ergonomic working positions. This allows the surgeon console to potentially reduce stress and fatigue, and enables clear communication with the surgical team. In addition, Versius captures meaningful data to continuously keep surgeons updated, and can provide insights that improve surgical care via the Versius Connect app, Versius Trainer and CMR clinical registry.

“Germany is a market leader in Europe, and paves the way for us to further accelerate our rollout of Versius across a number of new markets in Europe in the coming months,” said Per Vegard Nerseth, chief executive officer of CMR.

The first German installation comes just a little over a week after Versius was installed for the first time in Australia. The solution is being used by Macquarie University Hospital, a private teaching hospital in Sydney. Similarly, the U.K. adopted its first system at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh around the same time last year.

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