“We have more than 50 years of experience in gynaecology and MIS,” says Managing Director Stephan Hilgers. “The founder of the company, Prof. Kurt Semm, was a visionary in this field. He foresaw the benefits of minimally invasive surgery, or so-called keyhole technology, and developed the idea further into ‘Comfort-Endoscopy’. Surgery by definition is invasive, and many operations require incisions of some size. Minimally invasive surgery refers to surgical techniques that limit the size of incisions needed and thus lessen wound healing time, associated pain and risk of infection. However, at the time there were no instruments or systems available for enabling this type of technique, so Prof. Semm developed the systems and the instruments ABLATOR himself under the umbrella of the company WISAP®, an acronym of WISsenschaftliche APparate, scientific apparatus. He presented his findings at medical congresses, but initially he was laughed at. The first laparoscopic hysterectomy, the minimally invasive removal of the uterus, was a milestone and the breakthrough of WISAP®.”
Today, WISAP® is well established in its market niche. The company provides complete system solutions for gynaecology and MIS and keeps coming up with innovations.
“Improving patient comfort is the goal of our development work,” says Mr. Hilgers. “We develop new solutions in close cooperation with experts to further improve the benefits for patients such as lessening pain, shortening hospital stays and aiding recovery. WISAP® offers systems that provide warm irrigation and CO2 gas instead of cold and thus reduces post-operative pain. At present, we are engaged in fighting the pre-stages of cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers among women. Cervical cancer is widespread in China, India, Latin America and above all in Africa. It develops from untreated CIN, a chronic infection which results in abnormal growth of cells on the surface of the cervix. Based on our existing treatment method, WISAP® is further developing a thermo-ablative system for the removal of the abnormal cells which causes as little damage as possible. Our cervix ablator is an innovative device designed exclusively for the removal of cervical lesions by scalding the tissue, a fast procedure resulting in less pain and no scarring. The method is specifically intended for low-resource settings with a minimal requirement of training and low dependency on clinical infrastructure.”
WISAP® products are successfully used in 34 countries worldwide. “We have set up a network of trading partners,” concludes Mr. Hilgers. “We train our partners and present our products at trade shows and congresses and via the Internet. We will further pursue this niche market strategy with innovations for the comfort of users. Moreover, we plan to add urology products to the range.”