Recently, ForSight Robotics, a pioneer in ophthalmic surgical robotics, announced that Dr. Fred Moll, co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, has joined its board of directors.

Intuitive Surgical is the company behind the most successful surgical robot system in history - the da Vinci Surgical System. Dr. Fred Moll, as a co-founder, is known as the "father of surgical robots". His joining ForSight Robotics is his first time serving as a consultant for a surgical robot company in the field of ophthalmology.

01. The world's first cataract and panocular surgery robot
ForSight Robotics is headquartered in Israel and has developed the ORYOMTM platform (Hebrew for "daylight"), which claims to be the world's first robotic surgical platform for cataracts and panocular diseases. It will utilize AI based algorithms, computer vision, and micro mechanical technology.

At the 2024 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Annual Meeting (ASCRS2024), renowned cataract surgeon and former president of ASCRS, Dr. David F. Chang, showcased ForSight's first pig eye robotic cataract surgery at a professional conference, marking the debut of ORYOTMM.

Dr. Chang said, "This is the first time I have played a video of me sitting on a workstation 20 feet away from my eyes performing surgery on an animal's eyes, using a robotic arm to complete the entire surgical process. The robotic arm accurately reflects my hand movements

At present, the ORYOMTM platform has completed dozens of complete robotic cataract surgeries (on animal eye models). ForSight's technology has received support from leading investors, surgical robot experts, and renowned ophthalmologists, working together with the talent team to guide product development.

Its strategic advisory committee includes Dr. Fred Moll (founder of Intuitive Surgical and Auris Health) and Rony Abovitz (founder of Mako Surgical and Magic Leap) who have joined the board, as well as the clinical advisory committee, which includes Dr. David Chang, Dr. Vance Thompson, Dr. Elizabeth Yeung, Professor Boris Malyugin, Dr. Sam Garg, and Dr. Modi Naftali.

02. Father of surgical robots joining
Dr. Moll is an outstanding and prolific medical device entrepreneur. He founded Intuitive Surgery in the 1990s, pioneering robot assisted surgery and revolutionizing minimally invasive surgery in dozens of specialties through his da Vinci robotic system. Subsequently, he founded Auris Health, which was acquired by Johnson&Johnson in 2019. Recently, he served as the Chief Development Officer of J&J Medical Devices from 2019 to 2023.

Since the establishment of ForSight in 2020, he has served on its Strategic Advisory Committee and is currently an investor in ForSight Robotics. He also serves as the Chairman of Neptune Medical's Board of Directors and Vice Chairman of SS Innovation.

For joining the ForSight board of directors, Dr. Moll said, "Throughout my career, I have been collaborating with medical robotics companies to enhance healthcare accessibility and treatment outcomes for patients worldwide. ForSight Robotics is driving the application of surgical robotics technology in eye care, helping to prevent preventable blindness and address the global shortage of ophthalmologists. I have been providing support since the establishment of the company, and I am confident in its team, tools, and potential to reshape the industry. I am proud to continue serving as a strategic advisor during a period of significant growth for the company

Dr. Joseph Nathan, co-founder, president, and chief medical officer of ForSight Robotics, said, "Moll's groundbreaking achievements in the field of surgical robotics perfectly align with our mission to revolutionize the future of ophthalmic surgery. As we bring the ORYOM platform - the world's first surgical platform for fully robotic cataract surgery - to market, Dr. Moll's unparalleled expertise will play a crucial role

It is worth noting that with the addition of Dr. Moll, ForSight Robotics recently hired Yonatan Ushizin as Vice President of Research and Development, Ilanit Edri is the Vice President of Human Resources, which reflects ForSight's expansion of its leadership team.

Among them, Ushizin has nearly 20 years of experience leading multidisciplinary product development, from concept to commercialization, and has worked at companies such as Medtronic, Mazor Robotics, and Meytar R&D. Recently, he served as the Director of Robotics Research and Technology at Medtronic, playing a key role in driving innovation in robotics.

03. Blue Ocean Market for Surgical Robots
Cataract correction surgery is one of the most common surgical procedures in the world, with over 28 million surgeries performed annually worldwide. Timely ophthalmic microsurgery can prevent blindness, but ophthalmic surgery is complex and challenging, requiring years to master. In addition, skilled ophthalmologists are also scarce worldwide.

An estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from visual impairments. According to a study in the Journal of Global Public Health, this burden is estimated to cause $3 trillion in losses annually in productivity, healthcare, and social care.

At present, cataract surgery robots are still in the early stages of development. Among them, well-known systems such as Horizon Surgical Systems' Polaris system have entered a critical stage of experimental validation, while ForSight Robotics' ORYOMTM robot has successfully completed dozens of complete cataract surgeries, demonstrating significant progress.

Domestic companies such as Dishi Medical, Angtai Weijing, Xianwei Medical, and foreign companies such as Preceyes BV are also actively promoting the research and development of ophthalmic surgical robots. These robots can perform a wider range of surgical types, covering multiple fields such as vitreoretinal surgery.

Source: http://qixieke.com/Font/index/detailPage.html?id=3350-19