Feb 06

Karl Storz Endoscopy

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 31 worldwide affiliates, eight manufacturing facilities and more than 3,500 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 8,000 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 allows true standardization within 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 Tele 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 Tele Pack™, as well as the sophisticated Image 1® digital imaging 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 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 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 launched the DCI video intubation system. The DCI video intubation system allows quick exchanges between flexible endoscopes, Bonfils semi-rigid scopes and video laryngoscope blades using a single-snap/snap-off video camera. Along with the compact Tele 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 to meet virtually all difficult intubation needs.

The term “first” has consistently been associated with developments from KARL STORZ. 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.