Cardica’s New Microcutter Devices Do Double Duty as Cutters and Staplers; Require Less Frequent Reloading

We’re no strangers to surgical staplers here at Medgadget, but Cardica, Inc. claims its upcoming Microcutter line of staplers will provide significant improvements over existing options. The new staplers will double as surgical cutters and will allow surgeons to make multiple staple deployments without needing to reload with a fresh cartridge. Additionally, the company claims that Microcutter devices will have a smaller diameter than currently available surgical staplers, which will allow for less-invasive procedures. Cardica has just received CE marking for the Microcutter line, and plans to begin the FDA 510(k) approval process later this year.
From the press release:

The Microcutter line is designed to cut and staple continuously, allowing a surgeon to complete successive deployments without removing the device for a cartridge reload. The first device in the Microcutter product line that Cardica expects to commercialize, the Microcutter XPRESS 30™, is 8 mm in diameter, compared to commercialized stapling products that are at least 12 mm in diameter. The smaller diameter of the anticipated Microcutter line allows access through smaller, less-invasive ports and, importantly, through trocars used for the other surgical tools required for laparoscopic procedures. All of Cardica’s anticipated Microcutter devices are designed to articulate to a greater degree than currently commercially available staplers. Additional planned iterations of the Microcutter product line include the Microcutter XCHANGE 30™, with a shaft diameter of 5 mm, and the Microcutter FLEXCHANGE 30™, with a flexible shaft, and are designed to enable port-access surgeries, including robot-assisted surgery, Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) and Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS) interventions, all emerging surgical fields.

Press release: Cardica Receives European CE Mark for Initial Microcutter™ Surgical Cutting and Stapling Device…
Product page: Cardica Microcutter…