FundamentalVR, a London-based virtual reality (VR) training, and data analysis technology startup, today announced a three-year strategic partnership with Mayo Clinic to co-develop new VR simulations leveraging haptic (sense of touch) technology for general surgical procedures, patient-specific modeling and emerging interfaces for robotic surgery.
Additional $1.4M in Funding
In addition, the company has raised an additional $1.4 million in funding from existing investor Tern Plc. The company plans to utilize the funding to continue FundamentalVR’s efforts to democratize surgical training with its first-of-its-kind SaaS software platform Fundamental Surgery that combines virtual reality (VR) with cutting-edge haptics (the sense of touch) to create a low-cost and scalable flight simulator experience for trainee and qualified surgeons.
FundamentalVR Platform Overview
FundamentalVR’s SaaS platform, Fundamental Surgery features VR Haptics technology that takes advantage of readily available virtual reality hardware to create a simulation system that can be used on any modern VR-enabled PC/laptop. Fundamental Surgery platform is now live in the Mayo Clinic’s world-renowned simulation centers located in Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota to help train surgeons on Spinal Pedicle Screw Placement, Posterior Hip Replacement and Total Knee Arthroplasty procedures.
Mayo Clinic-FundamentalVR Partnership Plans
The agreement with Mayo Clinic will start with an initial focus on the General Surgery area and plans to move into exciting growth areas including robotic and patient-specific simulation derived from DiCom (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) data and 3D modelling harnessing many years of Mayo Clinic clinical expertise into a whole new realm of education, assessment and evaluation.
“This collaboration with the Mayo Clinic will dramatically accelerate our progress and ensures that the FundamentalVR team has access to the very best surgical knowledge. Mayo Clinic and FundamentalVR are both ultimately focused on improving patient outcomes and with this in mind we share the belief that the comparative data insight and measurement available through our platform will have a profoundly positive impact on the wellbeing of people around the world. Our haptic + immersive VR platform has already proven itself to offer a new way to allow skills development and we are proud that this has been recognised by one of the USA’s leading and most inspirational medical groups,” said Richard Vincent, CEO at FundamentalVR.
