Titan Medical, a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of surgical technologies for single access robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), recently announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued patent No. 11,504,191, titled “Graphical User Interface for a Robotic Surgical System.” The patent is directed at enhancing the user experience for surgeons and generally covers a graphical user interface (GUI) overlay of a surgical workspace to track instrument movement, according to a press release announcing the patent.

Technology that generates a three-dimensional boundary for instruments within the surgical workspace is covered under the patent and with movement generated by a hand controller. Also covered under the USPTO patent is technology that provides a user the ability to limit instrument movement based on a two-dimensional projection of its position on a surgeon’s screen. This would be based on visual data as well as preoperative patient imaging and scans, along with other patient-specific data “embodying one or more keep-out zones,” according to the company.

The patent win for Titan is one of more than 225 pending and issued patents in the US and other jurisdictions by the company that cover single-access RAS including the Enos system’s surgeon workstation, patient cart, dexterous articulating instruments, ergonomic hand-controllers, enhanced vision systems, advanced control software, and instinctive surgeon overlays for providing interoperative feedback. The recently granted patent coverage may help provide the company with intellectual property options to further protect its RAS technologies as well as the potential to further license it and secure strategic options.

“The granting of this patent is a result of our strategic plan to independently build and protect a robust patent portfolio in robotic assisted surgery, including around the Enos robotic single access surgical system,” said Cary Vance, president, and CEO of Titan. “Today’s news validates our commitment to the continuum of innovation in robotic assisted surgery. Along with recent patent application filings, including some that have recently published, this patent demonstrates the company’s focus on being an innovation leader in single-access RAS. The technology covered in this patent could assist with early-stage artificial intelligence that works to limit movement of instruments, including movements based on patient anatomy or more general keep-out zones, as well as enhancements in single-access RAS beyond the Enos system, including next generation single-access RAS technologies and systems. We believe the breadth and depth of our patent portfolio provides us with options for monetization or other strategic opportunities.”

The news of USPTO granting the patent comes not long after Titan announced the furlough of 40 employees at its Chapel Hill NC facility as a way to preserve cash while allowing the company to continue work on its investigational device exemption (IDE) filing with FDA for its Enos system. The company preceded this news at the beginning of December when it reported it was reviewing strategic options, which could include the sale of assets.

This is another roadblock for the company, which saw troubles bubbling to the surface in 2019 with the announcement it would be delaying the 510(k) FDA filing for its single-port system, named Sport. This resulted in the company’s shares dropping by more than 50%.

After news of the furloughs, company shares were trading about 26% lower at 85 cents and because of its troublesome past few years, Titan also now faces delisting from the Nasdaq.

“While the company works through the strategic review process, and in view of the company’s capital position and the challenging market conditions, we have had to make the extremely difficult decision to place some of our employees on furlough,” said Vance, in a previous MD+DI article reporting the furloughs. “These employees have made valuable contributions to the development of robotic assisted technologies, and as we have communicated to the impacted employees, we look forward to bringing our employees back to work if and as soon as we are able. While this is not the news we would want to have been sharing, it is a necessary measure that allows us to strategically maintain a workforce that supports the strategic review process while continuing to make progress towards an IDE filing.”