Ecential Robotics SAS and Amplitude Surgical SA reported a long-term partnership to develop a  robotic solution for knee surgery. These two French-based med-tech firms are combining their technology used for intraoperative 2D/3D imaging and surgical navigation in orthopedics.

TORONTO – Robotics researchers at Ontario’s University of Waterloo are stealing a page from makers of autonomous or self-driving vehicles, developing wearable, motor-controlled technology to restore physical mobility in people with disabilities without the need to think about or guide the system. The project, called Exonet, is being led by Brokoslaw Laschowski, who contrasts this approach with engineers ramping up the ability of users to control the exoskeleton.

Israeli med-tech startup Forsight Robotics Ltd. has closed a $10 million seed funding round led by Eclipse Ventures and joined by Mithril Capital. The funding will help advance the company’s work on a surgical robotic platform that employs microsurgical robotics, computer visualization and machine learning to automate many of the complex elements of ophthalmic surgery.

PARIS – Less than a year after its formation, Acusurgical SAS, has secured a $7 million series A round to develop its robotic platform for assisting surgeons performing microsurgery procedures in retinal surgery. “Our goal isn’t to replace the surgeon but to increase his surgical capacities. Our mission is to create an augmented surgeon,” Christoph Spuhler, CEO and co-founder of Montpellier, France-based Acusurgical, told BioWorld.

Orthospin Ltd.'s outlook was braced by the U.S. FDA's 510(k) clearance of its next-generation digitally enabled, robotic external fixation system. The Autostrut G2 system allows preprogramming of external fixation devices used for orthopedic issues such as lengthening bones, setting complex fractures and correcting deformities.

The medical device company Distalmotion SA has hit a regulatory milestone in the commercialization of its surgical robot, Dexter, earning a CE mark in Europe. The Dexter surgical robot is built with the aim of allowing surgeons to take a hybrid approach to minimally invasive surgery, using the robot for tasks such as suturing and complex dissections while switching to a laparoscopic approach for stapling and basic dissections.

PARIS – Ganymed Robotics SAS reported the successful completion of functional prototype testing for its surgical robotic assistant used in total knee arthroplasty. According to a systematic review of the literature, published in the Journal of Arthroplasty, more than 2 million patients undergo knee arthroplasty each year after suffering arthritis of the knee.

HONG KONG – Israel-based Vayyar Imaging Ltd. and Hong Kong-based Meditemi Co. Ltd. have teamed up to create a more intelligent care robot that provides a range of remote monitoring capabilities, including early detection of COVID-19 symptoms.

More than a dozen robotics researchers expressed the need for robots to play a greater role in managing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as in future preparedness. They pointed to three broad medical areas where robots can make a difference: clinical care with applications such as telemedicine and decontamination; logistics for delivery and handling of medical waste; and reconnaissance such as quarantine enforcement.