Title: Improvement of a laparoscopic device to reduce hemorrhage-related complications during surgery

Team: Renesmee Kuo, Asa Smith, Isha Shah, Jessica Li

Client: Bariatric & GI Surgery – Jonathan Carter, MD (UCSF)

Laparoscopy is a type of surgical procedure that allows surgeons to access the inside of the abdomen and pelvis without having to make large incisions in the skin. Compared to traditional open surgeries, laparoscopic surgeries generally result in quicker recovery times, shorter hospital stays, and lower mortality in patients. Despite this, internal bleeding remains a major complication in laparoscopic surgery and often requires surgeons to make a larger abdominal incision or revert to open surgery. During rare bleeding complications, it is difficult to identify the leakage site, as many of the common laparoscopic tools, including the ValleyLab Laparoscopic Handset, contain only the following five functions: suction, irrigation, cutting, coagulation, and electrode retractability.

Our unmet need is centered around developing a laparoscopy handset CO₂ pump to identify leakage sites and decrease bleeding complications during laparoscopic surgery