TransEnterix, Inc., a US based medical device company that is digitizing the interface between the surgeon and the patient to improve minimally invasive surgery, has announced that it has established the first training center for the Senhance^® Surgical System in the Asia-Pacific region in Japan at the Saitama Medical University International Medical Center in the Greater Tokyo Area.

The Asia-Pacific laparoscopy device market is expected to grow at a cumulative average growth rate of 8.2% from $1.26 billion in 2019 to $1.87 billion by 2024, according to Market Data Forecast, Inc. This expected growth, the significant benefits of digital laparoscopy, and the establishment of the Japanese Training Center is expected to drive increased utilization of the company's six system installations in the Asia-Pacific region and encourage further adoption of technology in additional hospitals. In 2020, the number of clinical case procedures in this region utilizing the Senhance System has surpassed the number of procedures in all of 2019, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senhance System is the first and only digital laparoscopic surgical platform designed to maintain laparoscopic MIS standards while providing digital benefits such as haptic feedback, robotic precision, comfortable ergonomics, advanced instrumentation including, 3mm microlaparoscopic instruments, eye-sensing camera control and reusable standard instruments to help maintain per-procedure costs similar to traditional laparoscopy.

The Senhance Surgical System was approved for use by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) in 2019, and has the broadest procedural reimbursement of any abdominal robotic surgery platform in Japan, which applies to 98 benign and malignant laparoscopic procedures across general, colorectal, gynecologic, pediatric and urologic surgeries at reimbursement rates equivalent to traditional laparoscopy in Category A1.