LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Medical device company Creo Medical Group announced on Wednesday that the first mentored, in-human use of its 'Speedboat' device had taken place in India.
The AIM-traded firm's announcement followed the framework distribution agreement it signed with Meditek Systems in September, to provide clinical in-country training, mentoring and market seeding in India for its 'CROMA Advanced Energy Platform' and suite of products.

To date, medical staff from six key healthcare institutions across India had completed training as part of Creo's clinical education programme, and the start of in-country mentoring was marked with the first two upper GI 'Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy' (POEM) procedures being performed using Speedboat.

Those were the first POEM procedures in India carried out using the Speedboat device, with the board saying they showed the "significant advances" made towards the future of endoscopic surgery.

The procedures were performed by Dr Amit Maydeo and Dr Gaurav Patil at the Baldota Institute of Digestive Sciences (BIDS) hospital in Mumbai.

Creo's board said Dr Maydeo was currently the chairman of the BIDS hospital and president of the Association of Interventional GI Endoscopy of India.

Both cases were said to have been "highly successful", with Dr Maydeo saying "the microwave coagulation aspect of this device is excellent and not having to interchange devices mid-procedure makes this a great advancement in technology''.

It said that with further mentored clinical cases planned in the coming days in Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad, the expansion of Speedboat and the CROMA Advanced Energy Platform was continuing to gather pace.

As well as India and the US, patients had also now been successfully treated using the Speedboat device powered by Creo's CROMA Advanced Energy platform in the UK, South Africa and mainland Europe.

Creo said its Speedboat device was the first in a range of GI devices to be cleared for use with the CROMA Advanced Energy Platform, which combined bipolar radiofrequency energy for precise tissue dissection along with microwave energy for highly controlled coagulation and tissue ablation.

"We are delighted to hear that Creo's Speedboat device has been rolled out in the BIDS hospital and that the first live procedures have been a success, and are due to be followed by other procedures this week," said chief executive officer Craig Gulliford.

"India is one of the fastest growing healthcare markets in the world and is rapidly evolving in pioneering clinical practice.

"We look forward to further positive news on the subsequent surgeries."

At 1310 GMT, shares in Creo Medical Group were up 0.64% at 201.78p.

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