The FDA cleared Medtronic’s LigaSure RAS Maryland jaw vessel sealer-divider to be used in combination with the device maker’s Hugo robotic-assisted surgery system.
The device is geared toward providing a more seamless workflow with energy instruments surgeons are familiar with in robotic-assisted surgery environments, the company said.
In the U.S., the Hugo system is currently cleared for urologic surgical procedures in a growing number of health systems and hospitals.
“Vessel sealing sits at the center of how surgeons work through the most demanding moments of a procedure, and surgeons have trusted LigaSure to do it across open and laparoscopic surgery for decades,” Dr. Matthew Kroh, Medtronic;s chief medical officer of its surgical business, said in a statement. “Bringing that same performance to the Hugo RAS system in the U.S. means surgeons carry the confidence and control they already rely on into their robotic-assisted cases."
The LigaSure device can seal and cut vessels, thick tissue, and lymphatics as large as 7 mm in diameter, and can seal vessels in approximately 2 seconds while minimizing thermal spread to surrounding tissue. It was first paired with the Hugo system in Europe after receiving a CE mark in 2025.
Medtronic’s competition in the robotic-assisted surgery arena includes Intuitive Surgical—with its popular da Vinci system—CMR Surgical and Johnson & Johnson.
In July, the U.S. regulatory agency cleared J&J’s Ottava robotic surgical system for multiple soft tissue surgeries, including Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, gastrectomy, cholecystectomy, splenectomy, gastric sleeve, small bowel resection, appendectomy, lysis of adhesions, fundoplication and hiatal hernia repair.