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MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons , though the applied science certainly has its limitation . Take , for instance , sawbones using the simple machine to channelise their procedure . The current process entails putting the patient into a machine to get an image , before pulling them out to advance a needle one centimeter at a fourth dimension . It ’s a clock time - consuming and frankly inefficient habit of resources .
Boasting the tagline “ Creating a new chapter in minimally incursive surgery , ” Bay Area - basedMDCbelieves the resolution lie down in robotics . While robotics doubtless represent the future of operation , they salute their own challenge in this program . After all , traditional robotics stop many elements that can not operate inside an magnetic resonance imaging .
The company pitched on the Startup Battlefield stage atTechCrunch Disrupt 2024 .
MDC ’s challenge , then , was create a robotic organization that could control on a patient role inside an MRI without swear on electrical motors , rare world metals and other constituent that would inhibit the imaging machine ’s operations .
The youthful startup ’s oeuvre is establish upon research conducted during founder and CEO Sam Frishman ’s time at John Hopkins and Stanford . Frishman describes the root as “ high stiffness , small friction hydraulic transmissions and actuator . ” The scheme is power by water and tethered to the exterior of the MRI through a thermionic valve .
“ Our system has a few differentiator , ” Frishman tells TechCrunch . “ One is the ability to have really dexterous control at once by the medico . They ’re manipulate the phonograph needle , whether it ’s positioning , gain , actuating — it ’s like they ’re holding it in their bridge player . ”
MDC is specifically targeting biopsies and ablations in its initial offer . The CEO says those minimally invasive procedures are just the start .
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“ Really , it ’s enabling novel capabilities that are beyond what is possible today , ” says Frishman . “ That ’s where the digitization , the power assist , the direction through AI and all of the datum we assemble , you start having beyond human capability sum up , though the physician is still fully in ascendance and wee all of the decisions . ”
MDC is a recent grad of SOSV ’s HAX accelerator , and pitched onstage today as part of the Startup Battlefield at Disrupt . The firm has raised $ 1.2 million in pre - seed money .
