LINCOLN, Nebraska (October 3, 2024)—Bio Nebraska reports that Virtual Incision was named the 2024 recipient of the Governor’s Bioscience Award.
The award recognizes individuals and companies making significant contributions to the Nebraska bioscience industry. Governor Jim Pillen presented the award during a ceremony at Bio Nebraska’s Annual Event on Oct. 2, 2024, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Virtual Incision is revolutionizing robotic-assisted surgery with over 200 patents and patent applications and a team of 68 innovators. The company’s mission is to make every operating room robot-ready with the MIRA Surgical System, the world’s first miniaturized robotic-assisted (miniRAS) device. Designed to be compact, capable, and convenient, MIRA is setting a new standard in the field of robotic surgery.
Virtual Incision was co-founded in a cross-campus collaboration between UNMC and UNL inventors.
In February the FDA cleared MIRA for clinical use in adults undergoing minimally invasive colectomy procedures. The miniRAS system is currently being evaluated in a clinical study in Switzerland to analyze its use in benign gynecologic procedures, with the intention of using the data for international regulatory submissions.
To demonstrate their mission to bring robotic surgery to any location, the company collaborated with the University of Nebraska and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to launch spaceMIRA. During this mission, six surgeons successfully completed simulated surgical tasks from the company’s headquarters while the device was in orbit on the International Space Station. The findings of the testing may apply to surgery in space or on Earth, with future potential for surgeons to perform procedures remotely. Miniaturization could be a breakthrough in remote surgery by dramatically simplifying workflows at the site where the patient is located.
Read Bio Nebraska’s complete coverage about the Governor’s Bioscience Award here: https://www.bionebraska.org/virtual-incision-wins-governors-bioscience-award/
