While Connect is an incredible advance in the field of pediatric surgery, Myka’s pipeline of products based on its proprietary advanced sensor system architectures and artificial intelligence-based anatomy modeling algorithms includes many new solutions for conditions that predominantly affect adults:  pancreatic cancer and liver cancer, as well as wide-ranging other conditions involving the gastrointestinal tract, heart and lungs.   At the annual meeting of the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Gastroenterologists and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) which took place last month, a report on groundbreaking research conducted by a joint UCSF-Myka Labs team was among the highest profile events of the meeting, having been selected for a prestigious long-form podium presentation. 

The study presented at SAGES by research team member and UCSF surgery fellow Dr. Tejas Sathe sought to elucidate the relationship between endogenous production of gut hormones and the relative composition of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, lipid) in food taken into the body. The existence of a triggering effect on the production of hormones like GLP-1 and peptide YY by the arrival of food in the distal portion of the small bowel–where the largest number of hormone-producing L cells are found–is widely believed to play a role in the favorable health benefits seen with procedures like sleeve gastrectomy. An improved understanding of how different macronutrients affect gut peptide hormones holds great promise for the development of new therapeutic approaches for type 2 diabetes and obesity–including approaches that can potentially spare patients from the need for lifetime drug regimens, as currently required with GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic (semaglutide).    

The research team included both Myka Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Michael Harrison as well as renowned endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig, a member of the Myka Labs advisory board.