The Alshemari Needle Driver launches in U.S. at American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery Annual Meeting in Orlando
Alshemari Instruments announces the launch of its flagship medical device, the Alshemari Needle Driver. Dr. Hasan Alshemari, MD, a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and a top pediatric otolaryngology specialist at the Zain Hospital in Kuwait, designed his needle driver device as a solution to the pain points he identified in the operating room.
The patented design features a lever clamp method to ensure the needle is firmly held. The driver also holds the needle parallel to the handles, rotated 90 degrees from traditional needle drivers. Previously made and used drivers require elliptical motion to apply sutures. Dr. Alshermari's needle driver allows the surgeon to apply sutures vertically, in areas that would be difficult to reach with traditional drivers.
"I first came up with the concept for my needle driver device in the OR while applying sutures in the mouth of a patient," says Dr. Hasan Alshemari, inventor of 10 patented inventions and 2014 nominee for the Best Young Surgeon Award in Dubai. "As physicians, we have to be nimble in tight spaces. I wanted to invent a device that would minimize hand twisting in order to ensure greater accuracy, precision and superior reach."
The needle driver is clamped in a position to function while the operator's hand is in a neutral position, enabling less invasive procedures and reducing time wasted completing inaccessible sutures. While the Alshemari Needle Driver was conceived as an instrument for general ENT procedures, reaching challenging sutures at the base of the tongue or the tonsillar pillar, it can also be used throughout the body. The needle automatically moves into an ideal position between two targets in a straight vertical rather than elliptical motion as in conventional needle drivers.
