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ForSight Robotics’ ORYOM platform wants to make eye surgery more accessible. | Source: ForSight Robotics
ForSight Robotics raised $55 million in Series A funding for its surgical robot platform ORYOM that the company said can perform fully robotic cataract surgeries. Cataract surgeries are some of the most common ophthalmic (eye) surgeries worldwide, with around 28 million procedures performed a year. However, ForSight aims to eventually make all eye surgeries more accessible through its platform.
Ophthalmic surgeries can prevent many of the causes of blindness when performed early enough, but the surgeries themselves are intricate and complex. It can take years to master the skills, resulting in a shortage of ophthalmic surgeons. According to the British Journal of Ophthalmology, affluent nations have 72 eye surgeons per million people, while low-income nations average around 3.7 surgeons per million.
ForSight said its ORYOM platform is ten times more accurate than a human hand, providing submillimeter precision. The system has a miniature robotic hand that has a hybrid kinematic structure and 14 degrees of freedom, allowing it to reach any point in the human eye.
ForSight plans to use the funding to accelerate ORYOM’s development in clinical trials. The company is also working to put its platform to work treating other ophthalmic diseases, like retinal diseases and glaucoma.
“We are pleased to be able to advance our technology with this investment to bring robotics into the world of ophthalmic surgery to help millions of patients who have to wait unnecessarily for procedures while their eyesight deteriorates,” ForSight chief executive officer and co-founder Dr. Daniel Glozman said. “Our goal is to democratize this highly sophisticated procedure, enabling patients around the world to easily access the treatment that can restore their vision.”
The Adani Group led the funding round, which also included participation from existing investors Eclipse Ventures and Mithril Capital, and new investors Provenio Capital, Precision Capital, Reiya Ventures and the Ljungstrom family office.
“We are delighted for the opportunity to invest in ForSight, a company that is transforming the medical landscape with its offering,” Jeet Adani, vice president of group finance at Adani Group, said. “We see this as a strategic investment with synergies as part of our healthcare business ambitions. ForSight’s success will help millions of people around the world see and live better.”
ForSight brought in $10 million in seed funding in 2021, which the company used to successfully perform multiple cataract procedures on an animal eye model. It has also been awarded grants from the Israel Innovation Authority’s Companies Incentive Program.
ForSight’s clinical advisory board includes Dr. David Chang, Professor Boris Malyugin, Dr. Elizabeth Yeu, Dr. Sam Garg, Dr. Vance Thompson and Dr. Modi Naftali.
The company was founded in 2020 by Glozman, Joseph Nathan and Moshe Shoham, and is headquartered in Yagur, Israel.
This is great news! Cataract is the leading cause of blindness. Cataracts can be treated. But many poor people do not have all the amenities to get the treatment. People should come forward and help them. I hope this helps people to get their vision back.