NOSCAR increases NOTES research with Olympus Medical Systems Corporation grant

The Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research® (NOSCAR®), a joint effort of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), today announced Olympus' continuing commitment to funding research in an emerging minimally invasive transdisciplinary therapy known as Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery®, with a $250,000 grant to the existing Olympus Research Fund supporting NOTES® research. This grant increases Olympus' total funding to $1.25 million.

NOTES, which is performed by using the patient's natural openings for surgery, will be discussed among more than 250 medical experts, researchers and physicians, from July 9-11, 2009 at the 4th International NOSCAR Conference on NOTES in Boston, Massachusetts.

"NOSCAR is grateful to Olympus Medical Systems Corporation for supporting NOTES research and helping to advance this minimally invasive technique," said Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, NOSCAR Research Subcommittee Co-Chair.

"For the third consecutive year Olympus, a world leader in endoscopy, is proud to support the pioneering effort of NOTES research," said Haruhito Morishima, President, Olympus Medical Systems Corporation. "As a company committed to surgical innovation and to the advancement of less invasive patient care, we believe that funding the responsible, effective and safe development of this new modality may lead to an approach that could ultimately represent a major paradigm shift in minimally invasive therapy."

"We continue to receive an outstanding response for basic research funding reflecting the momentum this revolutionary technique has created," said Michael L. Kochman, MD, NOSCAR Research Subcommittee Co-Chair.

In July 2008, NOSCAR leadership granted funds to determine topics requiring further basic research in order to make the NOTES platform feasible. That grant, used for research called the Delphi Study, gathered data from physicians and researchers around the world to identify those areas requiring additional research and investigation. The topics to be funded will be announced when the call for submissions is sent later this month.

Source: American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy