On 28 December 2020, the agreement signed between the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Jesús Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre Foundation was published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE). The agreement was to formalise and regulate the Innovative Public Procurement (PPI) actions of the “Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery Systems (TREMIRS)” Project, 80% co-financed by ERDF Funds within the framework of the Spanish Multi-regional Operational Programme (POPE) 2014-2020 and by the Regional Ministry of Economy, Science and Digital Agenda of the Regional Government of Extremadura.
In a preliminary phase, on 25 May 2020, the Preliminary Market Consultation (PMC) was published on the State Procurement Platform. The consultation aims to gather market information on the specific tasks and costs of the technical office service to be contracted for the correct execution of the service for the creation, implementation and comprehensive management of a Technical Office to manage the TREMIRS project and subsequently, with the data gathered from this consultation, draft the specifications governing the tender for this service. The call for tenders was published on 2 October, and the award procedure with a contract was launched.
In parallel to the contracting of the technical office, the project’s research team has been conducting a literature review on the current state of robotic surgery platforms, both in laparoscopy and microsurgery, to gain an in-depth knowledge of the advances and current state of development of these technologies at national and international level.
As at 12 April 2021, the project was in the preliminary consultations phase as a preliminary action to the Innovative Public Procurement procedure of the platforms. Preliminary consultations aim to obtain information on innovative solutions that respond to the challenges of the project through technologies that exceed the performance of those currently available on the market, defining technical specifications to be achieved in the subsequent PPI procedure.
The call for preliminary consultations was published on 8 March 2021, in English and Spanish, as the target audience is EU and non-EU entities. More information on the preliminary consultations and the project will be available at the presentation day on 21 April, which will be linked below: www.ayming.es
