A prospective study of the safety and usefulness of a new miniature wide-angle camera: the “BirdView camera system”

Background The performance of endoscopic surgery has quickly become widespread as a minimally invasive therapy. However, complications still occur due to technical difficulties. In the present study, we focused on the problem of blind spots, which is one of the several problems that occur during endoscopic surgery and developed “BirdView,” a camera system with a wide field of view, with SHARP Corporation. Methods In the present study, we conducted a clinical trial (Phase I) to confirm the safety and usefulness of the BirdView camera system. We herein report the results. Results In this study, surgical adverse events were reported in 2 cases (problems with ileus and urination). There were no cases of device failure, damage to the surrounding organs, or mortality. Conclusions We evaluated the safety of the BirdView camera system. We believe that this camera system will contribute to the performance safe endoscopic surgery and the execution of robotic surgery, in which operators do not have the benefit of tactile feedback.