Cobra - First flexible dual-channel laser uretero-renoscope

Laser lithotripsy using two working channels significantly reduces time and materials

Knittlingen 04.08.2010

2-Channel Laser Ureterorenoscope also delivers superior irrigation compared with instruments with a single channel

Insert a laser fiber, carry out laser treatment, withdraw the laser fiber. Insert stone basket, recover stones, remove basket. And repeat this procedure until the last ureteral and kidney stone has been disintegrated and removed. – Laser lithotripsy with a flexible ureterorenoscope used to be a complex and time-consuming form of therapy for a very long time. The procedure was experienced as very arduous by the surgeon carrying out the operation and by the patient. Materials were also subject to significant wear with corresponding associated costs. This is because each time the laser fiber was inserted, there was a significant possibility of damaging the fibers and the working channel.

“Doubling the working channels delivered the solution to these problems. Naturally, the concurrent challenge was retaining full flexibility of 270 degrees and keeping the diameter of the tip and shaft low, in order to minimize the risk of injuries to the ureter. The COBRA ureterorenoscope was a resounding success. A sheath diameter of 9.9 Fr. and a tip of 6 Fr. provided full, unrestricted flexibility when using a 230 μm laser fiber in combination with Dormia baskets up to 1.9 Fr.,” explained Susanne Huber, Product Manager at Richard Wolf, in advance of the 62nd Conference of the German Society for Urology.

The Cobra’s two working channels make this instrument the only flexible laser ureterorenoscope on the market that allows the surgeon to work simultaneously with a laser fiber and a Dormia basket or other auxiliary instruments. Inserting and withdrawing the laser fiber many times during a procedure was eliminated together along with the associated wear and tear on instruments and the time-consuming work involved. If the laser fiber is not required when the surgeon is working with the stone grasping forceps and the basket, it can be securely set aside in one working channel and fixed in position. If other stones are found or the stones collected are still too big to be removed, the laser fiber is ready and can be simply advanced and brought into action again.

The two channels guarantee excellent visibility even under adverse conditions, such as bleeding, contrast medium streaks or concretion dust clouds. “This is because the two irrigation and working channels can deliver continuous irrigation and can be used together in parallel with inserted auxiliary instruments for pure irrigation. The surgeon therefore has more irrigation output and correspondingly improved vision than in a standard instrument with an unconfigured 3.6 Fr. working channel,” according to Huber.

Richard Wolf GmbH is a medium sized company manufacturing medical instruments. It employs a workforce of more than 1,400 and maintains a global network of seven subsidiaries and 120 foreign representatives. The company develops, manufactures and markets a large range of products for minimally invasive surgery and endoscopy in human and veterinary medicine, and for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and technical endoscopy.

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