44_SEEGRID, MAZOR ROBOTICS, SPACEX, RECONROBOTICS (FastCompany)
“Its movements are accurate to within 1.5 millimeters, all but eliminating errors that require follow-up surgeries.”
Mazor Robotics – For replacing a surgeon’s hands with steadier metal
Surgery puts us in intimate contact with robots, and the past year has seen a remarkable advance in the exactitude of their work: Mazor Robotics‘ Renaissance system maneuvers an orthopedic surgeon’s tools into place during spinal procedures and keeps the drill on target, with movements that are accurate to within 1.5 millimeters. Rather than doctors having to run a sequence of X-rays to confirm the position of their old tools, the robot maps its movements to a 3-D model of the patient’s spine.
There were 18 Renaissance systems active in U.S. hospitals as of late last year, triple the number in place in 2011. They combined for more than 1,300 procedures–and the rate of revision cases, where follow-up surgery is needed to repeat or correct the previous operation, dropped from an average of 10% to zero. The growth helped the Israeli-based company boost revenue more than 150% in the first three quarters of 2012, to almost $10 million, and approach profitability. This past summer, the FDA cleared Mazor to use its robot for cranial surgery. “We have the precision. We have the results,” says CEO Ori Hadomi.