Feb 05
Karl
Storz Endoscopy of America, Inc.
In 1945, in the small town of Tuttlingen,
Germany, Dr. Karl Storz founded a company
that would develop into a global corporation
and international leader in the field of
endoscopy. Today, the Karl Storz organization,
while still a family-held company, is made
up of 26 worldwide affiliates, five manufacturing
facilities and more than 1,700 employees.
Moreover, all Karl Storz manufacturing facilities
meet strict international quality standards
and are ISO 9000 certified.
Karl Storz has the industry’s most
complete line of endoscopic instruments.
The company is dedicated to more than 15,000
different products, encompassing 13 different
specialties, and is the industry’s
only supplier of instrumentation for many
special procedures. The breadth and depth
of the Karl Storz product line allow true
standardization with one company.
Karl Storz offers an array of mobile, compact
products to assist tracheal intubations
and address unexpectedly difficult intubations
in all OR, emergency medicine, ICU, NICU
and CCU settings. Additionally, the use
of video provides numerous benefits for
instructors as well as students learning
intubation techniques.
Flexible, semi-rigid and rigid fiberscopes
are available in sizes and shapes to accommodate
a range of physician preferences and patient
anatomies. Karl Storz flexible bronchoscopes
and semi-rigid Bonfils Retromolar Fiberscopes
may be operated with stationary or battery-powered
light sources, and with or without video
capabilities. Mounted either on booms or
carts, the video systems that accommodate
the entire surgical team are the same as
those used by anesthesiologists to enhance
their intubation capabilities at the start
of surgery.
The compact, mobile Medi Pack video system
can quickly assist bedside intubations in
the ICU, CCU, delivery room, and ER when
physicians need video support for difficult
airway situations. The Medi Pack, as well
as the sophisticated Image-1 digital platform,
provides superior clinical images for better
recognition of anatomical structures, which
allows easier passage of airway assist devices.
Other products include: ergonomically optimized
carts, emergency sets, Xenon light sources,
portable light sources, superior laryngoscope
blades and instruments, and bronchoscopes
and tracheoscopes for distal respiratory
gas monitoring and foreign body removal.
A History of Milestones
The company’s history of innovation
includes the extracorporeal electronic flash
(1956), cold light source (1960), HOPKINS®
Rod Lens System (1965), ultrasound lithotriptor
(1970), direct-coupled interface endoscopes
(1999) and OR1® integrated surgical
suites (2000). In 2000, Karl Storz Endoscopy
became the first company to broadcast a
live, 3-D surgical image at University Hospital
(Klinikum Rechts der Isar) in Munich, Germany,
using 3-D endoscopic imaging technology.
And in 2001, Karl Storz launched the first
all-digital imaging system, Image 1®.
In September 2003, Karl Storz launched its
Tricam® 3-D Imaging System with the
first-ever live U.S. 3-D telesurgery transmission.
Recent Notable Advancements
In March 2002, Karl Storz installed two
customized OR1® integrated operating
rooms at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
in Chicago, the site of more than 25,000
operations every year and the most active
surgery facility in the region. Karl Storz
custom-builds each OR1 facility to the client’s
specifications, with essentially unlimited
possibilities for the configuration of the
operating rooms.
Launched in January 2003, the MacIntosh
intubating laryngoscope combined the popular
MacIntosh laryngoscope blade with a handle
equipped with fully integrated Micro Video
Module imaging technology. The Karl Storz
Video MacIntosh allows oral intubations
to be visually optimized, with the vocal
chords being viewed on the video monitor
by the entire OR team sooner, more easily
and with less patient trauma.
April 2003 saw the introduction of the Image
1® digital imaging platform. This advanced
digital imaging platform from Karl Storz
features full serial digital interface video
compatibility throughout, providing high-resolution
and high-fidelity images. Image 1® delivers
digital imaging that realistically renders
the patient anatomy for the cleanest, sharpest
images.
The D-Light autofluorescence bronchoscopy
system was unveiled in May 2003. AF technology
from Karl Storz is used to differentiate
suspect areas from normal tissue, providing
earlier detection of lung cancer than is
possible with conventional white light bronchoscopy.
When viewed using specially designed Karl
Storz flexible bronchoscopes and camera
systems, normal tissue appears green compared
with abnormal tissue that appears brown.
In 2005, Karl Storz will launch the new
DCI video intubation system. The DCI video
intubation system allows quick changes between
flexible, semi-rigid, and laryngeal blades
using a single snap-on/snap-off video camera.
Along with the recently released Medi Pack
system, the DCI video intubation system
provides an easy-to-use, mobile system that
can be taken to any bedside in the hospital
and used for virtually all assisted intubation
needs.
The term “first” has consistently
been associated with developments from Karl
Storz Endoscopy. A pioneer in the field
and a leader in medical technology advances,
Karl Storz is dedicated to continuous innovation
that addresses today’s challenges and
tomorrow’s expectations in minimally
invasive surgery.
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