In the new procedure, the valve is created by inserting a surgicaldevice that looks like a toy fishing pole into the mouth and snaking it down the throat to where the esophagus meets the stomach.
"It is without a doubt the most complicated problem I've ever had to solve, " says Kensey, who also invented a device to stop arterial bleeding during surgical procedures.
Currently, we expect continued growth in its sales since Intuitive Surgical has been increasing its sales team to promote the device in new international markets like Japan.
We expect incremental growth in da Vinci Surgical Systems in the U.S. as more hospitals adopt da Vinci Surgical Systems following strong marketing and sales efforts from the medical device maker.