Technology committee

Chair

**Prof. Hans Fuchs**
Professor of surgery
Leading surgeon, robotic surgery
Department of Surgery
University of Cologne
Köln, Germany

Mission statement

The Technology committee was initially established in 1995 by Gerhard Buess and Andreas Melzer to study tools, techniques and technologies to aid European minimal access surgeons. Through the years, EAES has acquired a leading role in European Surgery, as minimal access and minimally invasive treatments have become widely diffused and represent the gold standard in most surgical fields. Thus, the technology committee has taken the responsibility to support innovation and to lead the introduction of novel basic and advanced instruments in terms of validation, instruction for a better daily use and patient safety.

As EAES has become a reference point for a multitude of surgeons and other specialists from different environments, from research centres to private practice, a balanced attitude is needed between cutting-edge innovation and daily clinical use. This responsible approach is fully represented in the committee’s activities and mirrored by the yearly activity that includes both breakthrough presentations and survey activities, as well as by the effort to deliver to the audience of our symposium a comprehensive overview of available devices on the market, evolving technology and future new devices. The committee interacts and cooperates with other committees and societies in fields of mutual interest. A clear example is simulation for the training of surgeons in minimal access interventions, where, as in the domain of the Educational Committee, full integration of methodologies and technologies are required. The Operating Room of the future, digital technologies, mixed reality, telemedicine, novel approaches such as robotics, NOTES and new energised instruments represent the daily interest of the technology committee’s members, opinion leaders and active researchers in these fields, committed to improve the future of our patients.”

Finally, a challenging but crucial part of our mission is to spread technology and minimally invasive surgery in developing and low budget countries and hospitals. We strongly believe that technology and innovations are not a luxury reserved for the privileged only.

MEMBERS

**Mahdi Al-Taher**
Lead consultant colorectal surgeon
Tawam hospital/STMC
Al Ain – United Arab Emirates

**Benjamin Babic**
Priv.-Doz. Dr. med.
Sana Klinikum Offenbach
Visceral Surgery
Offenbach – Germany

**Clarisa Bîrlog**
General Surgeon
Ponderas Academic Hospital
Bucharest – Romania

Young Member task force representative

**Michele Diana**
Surgeon Scientist
HUG – Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève
Genève – Switserland

**Dolores Krauss**
Visceral Surgeon
University of Cologne
Köln – Germany

**Alfonso Lapergola**
Consultant Staff Surgeon
Nouvel Hopital Civil, University Hospitals of Strasbourg/IRCAD France
Strasbourg – France

Young Member task force representative

**Joël Lavanchy**
Attending surgeon
Clarunis – University Digestive Health Care Center Basel
Basel – Switzerland

**Pietro Mascagni**
PhD candidate in Surgical Data Science,
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
IHU-Strasbourg, University of Strasbourg – France

**Micaela Piccoli**
Chief General , Emergency and new Technologies Unit
Azienda ospedaliero universitaria di Modena
Modena – Italy

**Jennifer Straatman**
Consultant Upper GI Surgeon
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
Portsmouth – United Kingdom

**Alexander Vahrmeijer**
Prof of Surgery; molecular targeted precision surgery
Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden – The Netherlands

**Martin Wagner**
Department of Visceral, Vascular, and Thoracic Surgery.
University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology.
Dresden – Germany

In addition to the general activities, the technology committee also has 3 subcommittees.
Each subcommittee consists of a chair, some committee members and external consultants.

Symposium on Innovation in Surgery

The committee is involved in putting together the programme for the Symposium on Innovation in Surgery.
For more information, click here.

FUSE project

The committee has committed itself to the SAGES FUSE programme. The Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy™ (FUSE) program was developed to meet the need for increased education and training in the principles and properties of operating electrosurgical instruments safely. SAGES encourages learning and applying these fundamental skills in order to ensure a minimal standard of care for all patients undergoing surgery. For more information visit the website or check this video.