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Members of the second Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program spoke on the 2023 Robotics Summit & Expo.

MassRobotics, Festo, Mitsubishi Electrical Automation, Novanta, and MITRE are calling on healthcare robotics startups to use for the third Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program 2023-24. This program offers healthcare startups with the chance to showcase revolutionary healthcare and robotics options and compete for an opportunity to affix a world-class accelerator program. This system’s goal is to advance healthcare robotics corporations by offering the connections, steering, and assets they should develop and succeed.

The chosen startups will likely be guided by senior-level mentors from organizing corporations and supported with connections to potential clients, traders, suppliers, advertising and marketing and extra. Moreover, the chosen startups will discover help inside MassRobotics’ Healthcare Robotics Working Group, comprised of a U.S. cluster of company, tutorial, authorities, startup, and enterprise capital volunteers.

The healthcare business is quickly evolving, and robotics has turn out to be an integral a part of fashionable healthcare. With the rising demand for healthcare providers and technological developments, the healthcare robotics market presents important alternatives for enhancing affected person care, decreasing healthcare prices, and rising effectivity throughout varied areas of healthcare.

It is a distinctive alternative for healthcare startups to achieve precious assets, mentorship, and help from a few of the most revered and profitable corporations within the healthcare and robotics industries. Purposes open on Might 11, 2023 and shut on September 9, 2023. Cohort 3 will likely be introduced on September 22, 2023.

Candidates from around the globe can profit from the help of this system to attain their particular milestones. Cohort 1 and a couple of contributors have achieved important milestones by this system, together with however not restricted to, funding, gross sales, signing a world partnership and territory expansions.

In June 2022, MassRobotics, Festo, Mitsubishi Electrical, Novanta and MITRE launched the decision for purposes for the second Startup Catalyst Program to advance healthcare robotics corporations around the globe, offering the networking alternatives, steering, and assets they should develop and succeed. This system centered on startups within the areas of scientific care, public security, laboratory, provide chain automation, out-of-hospital care, high quality of life, in addition to continuity of labor and schooling, and coaching and help for healthcare professionals.

This system ended with a showcase presentation on the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston, which is produced by The Robotic Report, whereby all contributors shared their successes all through this system. 

A full home at Robotics Summit & Expo listening to pitches from members of the second Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program.

Greater than 40 corporations utilized from around the globe. The mentor corporations chosen seven to affix this system. The collaborating startups accomplished spectacular milestones, as detailed under:

Acumino proudly publicizes its profitable completion of the MassRobotics Healthcare Catalyst program, the place the corporate showcased its distinctive capacity to coach robots for complicated healthcare duties. These duties included TMS mind scanning, hazardous waste removing, and lab tech automation, demonstrating Acumino’s experience throughout a number of healthcare use circumstances.  A big achievement stemming from this program is a collaboration between Acumino, Mitsubishi Electrical, and Festo, with the shared aim of revolutionizing pathology labs by next-generation robotic options.

This collaboration capitalizes on the collective experience and assets of all three corporations to deal with the urgent challenges arising from the worldwide scarcity of lab technicians. The answer will likely be powered by Acumino’s next-generation robotic coaching platform, Mitsubishi Electrical’s robotic arms, and Festo’s finish effectors, with healthcare advisory offered by Dr. Michael Roehrl. The venture goals to allow robots to function pathology lab gadgets in a way that surpasses current approaches by way of pace, security, cost-effectiveness, and accuracy.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Mitsubishi Electrical, Festo and Dr. Roehrl on this groundbreaking venture,” expressed Patrick Jarvis, CEO of Acumino. “Collectively, we have now a novel alternative to dramatically enhance the usual of healthcare worldwide.”

Founder and CEO Chase Olle, whereas working with Festo’s mentorship within the Healthcare Robotics Catalyst Program, has produced an revolutionary robotic work cell often known as “RNA on Rails” in collaboration with HelixNano. Throughout this system and supported by Nuzha Yakoob, Head of Know-how & Innovation, Olle labored with HelixNano for six months on a pilot mRNA manufacturing suite, which proved profitable, resulting in the enlargement of the venture to a multi-robot manufacturing work cell.

As a part of this enlargement, Robotic on Rails (RoR) will ship 4 machines to HelixNano throughout the subsequent eight months. Moreover, the 8-channel DHOI pipette developed by Festo Know-how Engineering Heart will change the system’s present liquid dealing with. This new suite will cowl many of the manufacturing pipeline and is predicted to extend manufacturing by six occasions. The RoR venture, below Olie’s management, delivered a collection of recent options, together with robotic replenishment and product refrigeration, which have introduced them one step nearer to reaching their aim of turning into the brand new automation normal for all times sciences laboratories.

ABLE Human Movement is a startup from Barcelona that creates exoskeletons for folks with bodily disabilities. The corporate has accomplished scientific trials throughout Europe and obtained pre-orders for its new era of accessible exoskeletons. ABLE has submitted the Technical File to obtain CE-mark regulatory approval within the coming months. The Catalyst program helped ABLE refine its enterprise mannequin, evaluate operational prices, and adapt the worth proposition for every stakeholder.

Nuzha Yakoob, Head of Know-how & Innovation at FESTO, mentored the group and helped to make connections to US traders for upcoming funding rounds. ABLE plans to develop its US investor community to achieve its fundraising goal for 2024. Moreover, Yakoob related the group with related element suppliers to enhance the exoskeleton’s capabilities for residence use, enabling sufferers to stroll in real-life conditions and revel in social actions. ABLE expects to launch the brand new residence product in early 2026. General, ABLE is on a mission to enhance mobility and independence for everybody with bodily disabilities.

Abi humanoid from Andromeda Robotics

This revolutionary startup specializing in humanoid robots, has skilled exceptional success on account of its participation within the Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program. By way of strategic collaboration with Novanta, a key program accomplice, Andromeda achieved important developments within the social AI and performance of their first prototype, Abi, an endearing and versatile companion humanoid robotic. As a direct consequence of its collaboration within the Catalyst program, Andromeda efficiently secured introductions to numerous healthcare services in Melbourne (Australia) and Boston (USA). These introductions will present invaluable alternatives for Abi to bear complete trials and exhibit its distinctive capacity to help aged residents in sustaining their independence.

The constructive suggestions and real-world outcomes garnered from these trials will cement Andromeda’s place as a number one supplier of cutting-edge robotic options within the healthcare sector. As well as, Andromeda’s pursuit of funding throughout the Catalyst program has seen notable progress, with the seed spherical nonetheless ongoing within the first half of the yr. This system’s help in facilitating introductions to early-stage enterprise capital traders has positioned Andromeda favorably for securing the required monetary assets to gas its enlargement and improvement plans. Andromeda Robotics is now poised to capitalize on the momentum gained by the Catalyst program. With a strong basis of profitable trials, robust connections with healthcare services, and ongoing efforts to safe funding, Andromeda is actively pursuing partnerships with native aged-care properties in Boston to increase the attain and impression of their exceptional humanoid robots.

In the course of the Catalyst Program, Limitless Robotics efficiently continued to develop Gary, a groundbreaking multifunctional robotic that leverages cutting-edge know-how to empower medical groups worldwide in delivering distinctive care and repair to sufferers. Powered by Ra-Ya, a state-of-the-art superior platform, Gary has versatile capabilities that help medical professionals in varied duties, amplifying their effectivity and effectiveness, whether or not it’s supporting affected person care or streamlining administrative processes. The open-source nature of Ra-Ya has additionally enabled software program builders worldwide to contribute and develop Gary’s capabilities, fostering a community-driven method to robotic healthcare. Limitless Robotics envisions a world the place each medical facility has entry to superior robotics, guaranteeing the very best high quality of look after sufferers globally.

Maestro Surgical Robotics (Taiwan) 

With a globally patented and paradigm-shifting movement management know-how and proprietary AI-driven medical imaging algorithm, the Shanghai-based Maestro Surgical is a surgical robotic platform firm able to creating tailored precision robotic arms for particular procedures. The corporate’s first product below improvement is a backbone surgical procedure robotic for lumbar decompression; the engineering mannequin can do each pedicle screw placement and laminectomy, a mission-critical operate that the majority backbone surgeons need.

Mentored by Novanta all through the MassRobotics Healthcare Robotic Catalyst Program 2022, Maestro Surgical is proud to announce that it has completed greater than the unique aim set originally of this system. The corporate has optimized its robotic arm with improved dexterity and accuracy, designed a surgeon’s console with minimal latency, deep-trained its imaging algorithm with massive units of actual affected person information, partnered with a number one ultrasonic orthopedic knife firm, and is closing its Pre-A financing spherical.

Zeta Surgical, a digital surgical procedure firm, has accomplished its participation within the 2023 MassRobotics Healthcare Catalyst program, in cooperation with MITRE. Throughout this system, the corporate finalized the event of the Zeta Cranial Navigation system and submitted its 510(ok) software to the FDA. Concurrently, Zeta Surgical initiated its first-in-human scientific trial, a big step in its development. As well as, the corporate has launched a brand new initiative in London, centered on the event of ZetaFUS, an ultrasound-based system for drug supply. This enlargement signifies Zeta Surgical’s ongoing dedication to enhancing the accuracy, security, and accessibility of image-guided procedures.

“We’re very honored to have three extra business companions – Novanta, Mitsubishi Electrical, and MITRE – be part of us for cohort 2 of this program, sharing their wealthy expertise and experience within the healthcare house with our chosen startups, offering devoted mentoring and steering all through this system. It’s with new business companions that we are able to develop our program, rising the variety of startups we choose in addition to increasing the scope of this system. We’d additionally wish to acknowledge our program supporters, a particular because of Dr. Kamran Manzoor and Dr. Michael Roerl for his or her untiring help and steering with Acumino,” mentioned Nuzha Yakoob, the Head of Know-how and Innovation at Festo.

“The Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program is a connecting platform between startups and companies for leveraging revolutionary Robotics know-how to futuristic automation options within the healthcare business. It’s a nice alternative to work with high chosen startups and a community of specialists for efficient product improvement and environment friendly system deployment,” mentioned William Nguyen, Ph.D., improvement supervisor at Mitsubishi Electrical Automation, Inc.

“We’re thrilled to function technical mentors to the startup founders creating the subsequent era of healthcare robotics. Working with these sensible minds provides us precious insights into how we are able to finest help their revolutionary efforts. This collaboration is really energizing and galvanizing our engineering group as we assist them to attain tomorrow’s breakthrough applied sciences,” mentioned Elliot Helms, Lead Mechatronics Engineer at Novanta.

“It was an exquisite expertise to function an innovator mentor and to see the startups evolve over the course of this system creating out-of-the-box robotic options for the subsequent era of healthcare. I significantly loved mentoring Zeta by their FDA roadmap and was thrilled they may have put that roadmap in movement throughout this cohort. I stay up for the subsequent cohort!,” mentioned Iris Sherman, the chief in biosecurity and innovation for MITRE.

“We’re thrilled to witness the collaborative efforts of Festo, Mitsubishi Electrical Automation, MITRE, and Novanta as they arrive collectively to help disruptive startups within the fields of healthcare, life sciences, biotech, and medical gadgets from around the globe. This collaboration goals to foster innovation and development in human-care industries, and we’re excited to be part of it,” mentioned Juan Necochea, Strategic Partnerships, MassRobotics.

Be taught extra about this system right here: https://www.massrobotics.org/alternatives/healthcare-robotics-catalyst/.