Sinead's partner in kidney op invention

Sinead's partner in kidney op invention

HAILED: bonadio firm behind new surgery device

By Jane Last
Wednesday August 06 2008

THE partner of singer Sinead O'Connor is being hailed in medical circles for his role in developing a surgical device seen as a major breakthrough.

Frank Bonadio, who is the father of the singer's youngest son Yeshua (21 months), is the chief executive and founder of Advanced Surgical Concepts (ASC), a medical engineering company operating in Bray.

The company are behind a breakthrough in the field of minimally-invasive surgery with their invention, the Triport.

The device has already been praised by doctors in prestigious medical clinics across the world and has hit the headlines in the US where it was used to successfully remove a healthy kidney from a donor before transplanting it into his father. The process was filmed and screened on NBC's Today Show.

The Triport allows surgeons to make just one small incision, through which a tube-like port with several round entry points for a camera and other tools is inserted.

With the new procedure, recovery time for patients who are donors could be reduced to less than a month -- this currently stands at three months and leaves heavy scarring. Pain medication would only be required for four days and the patient could return to work in 17 days -- drastically reduced from the traditional 51 days.

exciting

"It's probably one of the most exciting things I have ever worked on for sure," Frank said.

He believes that the device could become commonly used for the removal of the gall bladder and hysterectomies.

Although, doctors are predicting it could be used for donors, Bonadio believes this would be "trickier" and would probably stay in the domain of the more prestigious clinics in the US.

ASC became the first company to use the surgery technique last year when they travelled to India. It has been used once in Ireland, by a surgeon in Beaumont Hospital to remove a gall bladder.

The company employs just eight people -- and this new device could make them millions if it takes off.

- Jane Last

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/sineads-partner-in-kidney-op-invention-1447769.html