Minimally Invasive Device for Rapid Urethrovesical Anastomosis

Radical prostatectomy is a common treatment for patients with prostate cancer [1]. The current surgical technique for radical prostatectomies requires dividing the urethra from the bladder in order to aid the removal of the prostate [2]. At the end of a prostatectomy, the urethra is reconnected to the bladder in a procedure known as urethrovesical anastomosis (UVA) involving suturing the urethra to the bladder with bio-absorbable sutures. This procedure is commonly done first by reconstructing the posterior aspect of the rhabdosphincter, using this reconstruction to bring together the bladder and the urethral stump and lastly performing a running suture to avoid multiple knot tying. UVA is the most challenging and time consuming of the radical prostatectomy procedure due to the constrained surgical field, the proximity of the external urethral sphincter, and the complexity of suturing on very small tubular structures. These have limited the surgical time...