Insight Medbotics

We're pleased to announce that Akshay Puli, P.Eng, MBA Candidate has joined our team as Chief Product Officer. Akshay has seven years of experience in product development for complex soft-tissue surgical robotics to this role, grounded in a strong track record for clinical development and deep understanding of the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems. In past roles, he has shaped the clinical user experience for Ottava, Johnson and Johnson’s first soft-tissue robotic platform and supported surgeons in establishing and expanding their surgical practice using Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system. At Insight Medbotics, he will guide our clinical strategy and clinical relationships along with the IGAR robotics technology’s product roadmap. “Akshay Puli’s experience in the soft-tissue surgical robotics space, particularly working alongside surgeons in the OR, places him in a strong position to guide our clinical strategy and clinical relationships along with the IGAR robotics technology’s product roadmap,” said Fazila Seker, CEO of Insight Medbotics. “I’m excited that Akshay has joined us to create an intuitive experience for our clinical customers while also helping us to define the path to pioneering MRI-guided robotics for more targeted care for patients everywhere. Together with Chair Dean Mosca and the Board of Directors, I welcome Akshay to our growing team.” For the full announcement, click the link in the comments. #medtech #MRI #robotics #oncology

Did you know the earliest prototypes of the IGAR robotics system share components with Canadarm and other robotic systems built by MDA Space? In February, we were featured by the MedTech Strategist as a start-up to watch. For “Operating Robotically Inside the MRI,” Colin Miller interviewed both CEO Fazila Seker and Co-Founder Dr. Mehran Anvari. Here’s a third excerpt from that article, exploring how our technology evolved through partnership between CSii and MDA.    You'll find the full article on our website (link in the comments). ——————— In 2009, the Canadian Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSii) was granted Can $15 million by the Network Centres of Excellence’s CECR program to establish a not-for-profit research incubator that would leverage Canadian investment in space exploration technology and pivot it to medical applications. Led by CEO and seasoned telerobotic surgeon Mehran Anvari, PhD, CSii partnered with MDA, creator of the Canadarm space station maintenance robot, to begin development of the Image-Guided Automated Robotics (IGAR) system for conducting breast biopsies and other operations inside the bore of an MRI machine. Early prototypes of IGAR were created using components of the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre devices, as they were designed to function remotely under extreme conditions. In 2015, CSii experienced deja vu when it was awarded a Can$625,000 contract with the Department of Public Works and Government Services through the Build in Canada Innovation Program, this time to test the teleoperative capabilities of IGAR. Two years later, Anvari and his partners officially founded Insight Medbotics to increase access to MRI as the best imaging modality for soft tissue where precision and accuracy are crucial, and to commercialize the IGAR system, which received FDA 510(k) clearance for breast biopsy as its first clinical indication in 2023. According to [CEO Fazila] Seker, bringing medical devices and procedures into an active MRI has always been a challenge because of the high magnetic field strength and tight spatial confines. [Co-Founder Dr. Mehran] Anvari adds that several researchers have tried to develop MRI-friendly surgical systems but did not succeed in obtaining FDA clearance because of image degradation, an issue that MDA’s advanced engineering team was able to help Insight bypass. A testament to their durability, MDA’s robots deployed in space can operate for 20-plus years without repairs while withstanding dramatic temperature changes. IGAR’s MRI-safe construction mitigates the risk of potential projectiles in the MRI field. The company intends to design future iterations of IGAR to be capital equipment-agnostic, allowing it to attach to any MRI table. The technology’s IP, including issued and pending patents, is under an exclusive worldwide license from CSii and MDA.  ——————— We’re excited to see what the next chapter in our story brings! #robotics #medicalrobotics #medicaldevices

Happy International Women’s Day! We celebrate all the women in leadership and entrepreneurial roles, and wish you a great start to your weekend. Today, we’re also proud to celebrate Fazila Seker's strategic leadership in the medical device space. In February, the MedTech Strategist featured Insight Medbotics as a start-up to watch. “Operating Robotically Inside the MRI” by Colin Miller includes interviews with both CEO Fazila Seker and Co-Founder Dr. Mehran Anvari. Here’s a second excerpt outlining how Fazila and the team are taking the IGAR robotics system forward through partnerships to tackle other applications, including prostate biopsy. Want the whole article? You'll find a link in the comments. ——————— Insight Medbotics has been approached by MR manufacturers who have expressed interest in taking future IGAR models into hospitals using their capital equipment. The company is actively developing these partnerships as an avenue to accelerate distribution and adoption of IGAR systems. The CEO [Fazila Seker] also mentions that pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest in using IGAR for drug delivery, and she sees such strategic partnerships as a means of accelerating accessibility for patients. Currently, some practices fuse magnetic resonance and ultrasound imaging to perform biopsies using ultrasound, though this fusion has its limitations. Targeting cancers early in their life cycle can open treatment options to include local antibody injections before surgery is necessary, and IGAR shows as much promise for therapeutic delivery as it does for biopsy. “Our robotics standardize physician skill level by reducing variability because the robot takes over once the procedural plan is approved,” says Seker before explaining that the technology may also reduce training time for new physicians. While MR-guided breast biopsy is well addressed by existing methods, other biopsy procedures could leverage IGAR’s 1 mm accuracy and automation to help more physicians see cancers earlier and target them with confidence. Seker therefore anticipates commercially launching a future version of IGAR in the next three to five years as a prostate biopsy system, an area where existing methods have known shortcomings, most notably for catching small or deep lesions in large prostates. In such cases, missed targets contribute greatly to patient anxiety. ——————— Next time, we’ll post an excerpt exploring Insight Medbotics’ founding and history with our long-standingpartners, MDA and CSii. 

We're featured this month by the MedTech Strategist as a Start-Up to Watch. “Operating Robotically Inside the MRI” by Colin Miller includes interviews with both CEO Fazila Seker and Co-Founder Dr. Mehran Anvari. You'll find the full article on our website (link in comments), or you can read this excerpt about Fazila Seker’s appointment as CEO, our technology’s firm grounding in breast biopsy and our future movement toward targeted medicine. ——————— Fazila Seker, a co-founder and previous CEO of MOLLI Surgical, joined Insight Medbotics as CEO last May. From working with physicians to help breast cancer patients, Seker learned to place patients first and foremost in the provision of care. “We need to understand the patient’s experience and work in tandem with physicians and hospitals to deliver better quality care that also recognizes patient diversity in different settings,” says Seker. While device companies often prioritize their technology and find themselves hunting for a problem to solve, the CEO explains, her focus is set on the patient in a movement away from systemic therapy and toward targeted medicine. To date, the start-up has completed a 30-patient breast biopsy study and plans to enroll future studies to investigate more indications, though modifications to the technology would be necessary to optimize it for procedures in the abdominal cavity or other anatomical regions. Breast biopsy was a natural first regulatory indication for IGAR since it is an easily accessible area that facilitates development of complex technology. Insight Medbotics plans to expand development of the breast biopsy product to targeted therapy delivery for breast cancer, which aligns with its ultimate vision of advancing precision medicine and reducing reliance on systemic therapies that may come with toxicity for patients. Insight Medbotics’ long-term goal is to build out a modular platform that will allow for easy customization with procedure-specific attachments while simultaneously centering on ease of use and minimizing both clutter and storage space demands.  ——————— Next time, we’ll post an excerpt on the new directions we’re exploring for IGAR. #medicaldevices #medicalrobotics #mri

Thank you to Colin Miller and the MedTech Strategist for featuring our technology. Our team dared to ask: What if MRI is easier to use? #mri #medicaldevices #radiology 

We're pleased to announce that Abhijit Saxena has joined our team as Chief Technology Officer. Abhijit Saxena brings 14 years of experience developing complex, innovative medical device products with deep expertise in medical robotics. He launched and scaled multiple products across global markets. His diverse portfolio spans surgical robotic, navigation and planning technologies in neurosurgical and orthopedic applications, as well as robotics and AI-based data analytics platforms in neurorehabilitation. At Insight Medbotics, he will oversee technology development, leading teams in engineering, quality assurance, regulatory and manufacturing operations. “I’m delighted to welcome Abhijit Saxena to Insight Medbotics on behalf of the entire team,” said Fazila Seker, CEO of Insight Medbotics. “His expertise in medical robotics—combined with his experience in technology strategy, people leadership, and operational planning—will accelerate our path to making more targeted care available for patients. Together with Chair Dean Mosca and the Board of Directors, I look forward to working with Abhijit.” You'll find a link to the full announcement in the comments. #medtech #MRI #robotics 

Thanks to SpaceQ for this comprehensive overview of IGAR’s development from the benchside to a successful FDA 510(k) clearance in breast biopsy. Craig Bamford’s story outlines the partnership between Insight Medbotics, MDA and the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSii) to drive this achievement, and the leadership of Dr. Mehran Anvari along the way. We do wish to note that IGAR is not currently for sale in the U.S. market. (link in the comments)

Thanks to all the Medtech reporters who picked up the news about our successful FDA 510(k) clearance for the IGAR robotics system, which applies to this MRI-compatible robot in breast biopsy indications. The announcement was carried in Fierce Biotech, Mass Device, Surgical Robotics Technology, Aunt Minnie, Medical Product Outsourcing, Imaging Technology News and Diagnostic Imaging among others. “IGAR’s FDA clearance represents many years of hard work and investment from our team, Dr. Mehran Anvari, and our partners at MDA and the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSii),” says CEO Fazila Seker. “It’s gratifying to see the industry validate our achievement in creating the first and only robotic guidance and placement system cleared to work inside an MRI bore.”  In case you missed it, IGAR is the first and only robotics system designed to work inside an MRI bore to achieve this regulatory clearance. The MRI suite is among the most challenging hospital environments because the MRI device uses strong magnetic fields and has a confined working area for physicians. The IGAR technology platform may be adapted for future products that could move seamlessly across different care environments, such as from an MRI to a standard operating room or into a physician’s office. #medtech #robotics #mri

We’re thrilled to announce that the IGAR is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, MRI-compatible robot. The clearance applies to breast biopsy indications. Thanks to our successful 510(k) application, IGAR is the first and only robotic guidance and placement system cleared to work inside an MRI bore, one of the most challenging hospital environments. Why is working in an MRI so challenging? The device uses strong magnetic fields and has a confined working area for physicians. Designing a system required a unique combination of world-class experts in minimally invasive surgery and robotics. Our story begins with Professor Mehran Anvari, a surgical robotics pioneer and the scientific director and CEO of the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSii). His team funded the preliminary human trials for IGAR, collaborating with world-leading robotics engineers from MDA—Canada’s leading space company—to create and test the device’s first prototypes. We’re grateful to our partners at CSii, MDA, and the Canadian Government's Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. In the future, the IGAR technology platform may be adapted to move seamlessly across different care environments, such as from an MRI to a standard operating room or into a physician’s office. We also envision future developments that would target other organs and disease indications, along with therapeutic delivery and device placement. We’re proud to have demonstrated IGAR’s safety and efficacy for breast biopsy in 30 patients. Our team is actively working to advance the IGAR technology to market as part of our ultimate vision to build robotics systems that make it easier to provide more targeted care everywhere. #medtech #robotics #medicaldevices