Medtronic's New GastriSail Device to Better Bariatric Surgery - Analyst Blog
Medical technology giant Medtronic plc MDT recently unveiled higher procedural efficiency for its novel GastriSail gastric positioning system while performing sleeve gastrectomy surgery. This reflects Medtronic’s consistent efforts to improve obesity treatment using innovative bariatric surgical solutions, especially post its acquisition and merger with Covidien.
Originally developed by the legacy Covidien, and now part of Medtronic’s Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, the GastriSail system is a three-in-one surgical device that helps surgeons perform bariatric and gastric procedures – particularly sleeve gastrectomy – the most commonly performed weight loss procedure in the U.S.
The GastriSail system allows surgeons to decompress a patient’s stomach pouch and test for leaks using lesser device insertions. This, in turn, minimizes the risk of irritating or injuring the esophagus during the surgery. Post surgery, a compressed stomach ensures that the patient feels full faster even after consuming a small portion of food.
Moreover, it is the only device with a flexible sail and LED lights that facilitate more consistent sleeve creation and greater procedural efficiency when compared to a standard bougie.
In recent times, obesity has taken the shape of a major health hazard worldwide. Severe obesity can lead to chronic health conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke. With diet and exercise not serving the purpose adequately for treating severely obese patients, bariatric surgery has become a more viable option.
In the U.S., four types of bariatric procedures are performed by physicians: Adjustable Gastric Brand, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch and vertical sleeve gastrectomy. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), sleeve gastrectomy accounted for the most bariatric procedures (42.1% of 179,000 surgeries) followed by gastric bypass (34.2%) in 2013.
Medtronic is presently launching this device in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. It will be commercially available globally by the end of the year. We expect to see rapid demand and adoption for the GastriSail system, going forward, owing to the growing awareness regarding obesity and its consequences.
With rapid technological advancement and wide acceptance of bariatric surgery procedures, the global bariatric surgery devices market is currently expected to expand at a healthy CAGR of around 10% during the projected period (2016–2025). Given the fact that the GastriSail system is a first-of-its-kind in the bariatric industry, we believe Medtronic is well positioned to capture a significant share of the said market potential.
Currently, Medtronic carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked medical product stocks are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. BIO, Hospira Inc. HSP and Vascular Solutions Inc. VASC. All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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