ForSight Robotics founders (left to right) Daniel Glozman, Joseph Nathan and Moshe Shoham
ForSight Robotics
Cataract surgery is a common medical procedure globally, with over 4 million performed annually in the United States alone. However, there is a shortage of doctors to meet the demand for this surgery. ForSight Robotics, an Israeli startup, believes that robots can perform cataract surgery more effectively and affordably than human doctors.
ForSight Robotics recently secured $125 million in funding led by Eclipse Ventures to expand its robotic platform, Oryom, designed for cataracts and other eye diseases. This funding marks one of the largest Series B investments in a surgical robotics startup and brings ForSight’s total investment to $195 million. Additional investors include Fred Moll, the co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, a pioneer in robotic surgery. ForSight plans to conduct its first full robotic surgery on a human patient later this year, targeting the U.S. market and engaging with the FDA for regulatory approval.
With more than 1 billion people worldwide suffering from preventable vision impairments, the demand for eye surgeries is rising. ForSight’s robotic system aims to address this need by providing precise and cost-effective eye surgery. The company’s founders, who met at the Technion, have developed a cutting-edge robotic system that combines microsurgical robots with computer vision and machine learning algorithms.
ForSight has conducted extensive testing on pig eyes and is now preparing to gather clinical data for regulatory approval in the U.S. The company sees potential not only in addressing the shortage of eye surgeons in countries like India but also in expanding its robotic technology to other ophthalmologic surgeries beyond cataracts.
“He stated that robotics will need to step in to bridge the gap, as there is no human way to do so.”
