We have asked Erich Platzer, our long-term chairman, and Heinz Jacqui, his successor, about opportunities and challenges of the past, present and future of AOT. From acquiring the CE mark for the world’s first Laser Osteotome to the potential for full digitalization of the OR – Jacqui and Platzer give insides into our company’s journey.
The first Laser Bone Surgeries in Denmark went down successfully at the University Hospital of Aarhus. AOT thanks Sven Erik Nørholt, Jytte Buhl and Jan Wolff from the maxillofacial department for their great work!
As you can see below, Danish TV was also there.
Famous company for CARLO: Brigitte Macron, First Lady of France, got to know our laser osteotome during her recent visit to the Institut Faire Faces in Amiens. We are proud that CARLO is part of this unique facility that Prof. Devauchelle, Prof. Testelin, Prof. Dakpé and Dr. Bettoni have built up with so much energy and innovative strength!
CARLO® will significantly improve surgical treatment for bone cancer patients, thanks to our ongoing development of LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy).
It would be the first method to safely identify tumorous bone cells in real time during surgery and enable surgeons to exactly determine which tissue to remove. Hence, with LIBS they could improve the chances of survival for their patients while at the same time preserving their quality of life as much as possible.
AOT already filed a patent for this technology and now the first publication is available at nature.com.
In the past months, the AOT executive team has changed our strategy to faster access the market. As a leading force AOT will strengthen the new category of contact-free and autonomous laser robots.
“Frontiers in Robotics and AI” published a new study showing the technical and clinical feasibility of executing keyhole access to the brain with CARLO. In collaboration with AOT a group of neurosurgeons of the Vienna General Hospital created more than 70 high precision bone channels with three different angulations by using a newly developed cutting strategy.
Based on this breakthrough AOT continues to explore the clinical potential and benefits of CARLO’s robot-guided cold laser ablation in the human skull. More studies will follow to confirm the clinical evidence in neurosurgery and ultimately to increase the well-being of patients.
100 patients have already been treated with CARLO. Up to this point, it has been CMF patients exclusively, but we are working hard every day to expand the indications that can be addressed with laser bone surgery. Not just because CARLO can cut any bone in the body, but also because we at AOT are ready for more… way more!
After conducting a first pilot study of CARLO in the field of hand-, wrist- and forearm surgery Philipp Honigmann et al. published their findings in The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery. They conclude:
“Cold ablation laser osteotomy seems to be a feasible new method to perform osteotomies in the field of hand-, wrist- and forearm surgery. Primary osseous stability could be achieved using various cutting patterns which could lead to reduction of the amount of hardware required for osteosynthesis. […]”
While our company kept evolving, our headquarter’s hallway remained unchanged for years. So, it was about time to redesign our premises, in order for them to reflect our ongoing development.
A huge thank you to our employees who sacrificed their late afternoons and put in some hard work to finally make our hallway shine in AOT colors!
Jacqui, the newest member on AOT’s board of directors, can draw on knowledge and experience gained over 30 years as a manager in the MedTech industry. Among the many companies for which he has held, and in some cases still holds, senior positions are Distalmotion, Intersurgical, Diametos, Draeger Medical, Olympus Surgical and Getinge/Maquet.
“CARLO is a perfect example of why it is so exciting to work in MedTech: different technologies, such as the laser and robotics, are coming together to guarantee an unprecedented quality of treatment for today’s patients”, says Jacqui, “For that reason alone, I’m delighted to support AOT on its way up!”
Heinz Jacqui replaces Peter Burckhardt, who has been part of AOT’s board from the beginning and served as its vice president. We thank Peter for his brilliant support over the past years and wish him all the best!
We partnered with the innovation service provider Zühlke to develop a machine learning platform that allows CARLO to determine the progress of its cuts by analysing images with computer vision and artificial intelligence in real-time during surgery. Zühlke provided us with the necessary knowledge and resources to realise this project within our ambitious timeline as well as to make the new technology compliant with the Medical Device Regulation.
Advancements and Innovations in Surgery
Loews Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego
Foyer
May 13-14 2022
ISSH, IFSHT & FESSH Combined Congress
ExCel, London
Booth 52
June 6-10 2022
CARLO is now part of the newly opened Institut Fair Faces in Amiens, France. This unique center for research and education will develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to restore form and function to faces disfigured due to congenital malformation, trauma or tumor.
We are proud that the institute decided that CARLO is to be part of this fascinating endeavour and wish success to Prof. Bernard Devauchelle and Prof. Sylvie Testelin who created the institute following their groundbreaking achievements like the world’s first face transplant.
When Paolo Lodise had to undergo jaw surgery, he found out that the intervention could also be done with robotic laser osteotomy. So, he asked his doctor Prof. Christoph Kunz from the university hospital Basel, who then carried out the operation with CARLO.
Our Laser Osteotome made its way into yet another country: In April 2022 at CHU Amiens-Picardie four patients were treated with CARLO, benefitting from its unique advantages. As usual, all surgeries went smoothly.
AOT would like to thank Prof. Sylvie Testelin, Prof. Bernard Devauchelle, Dr. Jerémie Bettoni and Prof. Stéphanie Dakpé for the great collaboration!
As Switzerland remains the country with the most patent applications per capita in the world, TV station SRF 1 decided to show AOT as a prime example of Swiss ingenuity on their show “10 vor 10”. This gave us the opportunity to showcase CARLO’s patented skills on national television.
We are delighted to welcome Elmar Zurbriggen, our new CEO, and Peter Oprandi, our new CFO, to the AOT team!
Marion Jahn, a scrub nurse with decades of experience, has been involved in most of the CARLO procedures at the Paracelsus clinic in Munich. She tells about her hands-on impression of the world’s first Laser Osteotome.
Functional cuts and the outstanding precision of CARLO reveal new possibilities in hand, wrist and forearm surgery. Together with scientists from the Hand Surgery Unit of the Kantonsspital Baselland and the Swiss MAM Research Group of the Department of Biomedical Engineering | University of Basel, we are currently conducting preclinical trials for various indications with promising results.
A new study, published in “Frontiers in Oncology”, finds that “high precision bone cutting by Er: YAG lasers might minimize the invasiveness of navigated brain biopsies”. Using CARLO, the authors* created multiple canals in human skull bone, that were precise enough to guide biopsy needles with sufficient accuracy. They conclude: “Laser technology might be a valuable tool to improve the procedure of brain biopsies regarding invasiveness, procedure time and finally risk profile.”
*Thanh Tu Ha, Florian M. Thieringer, Martin Bammerlin and Dominik Cordier
Being able to modify cutting paths according to the needs of each individual patient is one of the big advantages of CARLO, the world’s first Laser Osteotome. In October 2021 a cutting path specifically designed for the patient was used in a Le Fort I Osteotomy performed by Christoph Kunz, Hans-Florian Zeilhofer and Florian M. Thieringer at the University Hospital Basel.
With laser technology you can not only cut bones but also analyze tissue. While in theory this has been known for a long time, AOT is the first implementing it in the praxis.
AOT’s co-founder Prof. Dr. Dr. Philipp Jürgens and his team at the Paracelsus clinic in Munich routinely use laser bone surgery for orthognathic corrections. They have succesfully treated dozens of patients suffering from jaw misalignments with CARLO since the beginning of clinical laser bone surgery in 2021.
