Cambridge firm has medical robotics success

Cambridge Medical Robotics is developing a medical robotics system which it claims can make surgery less invasive and open the way for universal keyhole techniques.

The medical device firm started first clinical cadaveric trials last month and has now secured $20.3m venture funding to help commercialise its medical robotics technology. It also plans a recruitment programme.

Investor, ABB, a global robotics company, will work with CMR in areas ranging from component sourcing to manufacturing.

While keyhole surgery has acknowledged clinical benefits, including less trauma and faster recovery times, the techniques are difficult for the surgeon to master and can be physically demanding to perform.

It is believed that robot-assisted surgery can facilitate the wider use of keyhole techniques.

Dr Robert Tansley

Reynir Indahl, the chairman of CMR, said:

“This funding round is a transformative milestone as CMR, with positive results from recent preliminary cadaveric trials, seeks to be among the first to market with a fully versatile, affordable system expanding the range of procedures beyond that which are presently performed robotically.”

Dr Robert Tansley of investor CIC said:

“Cambridge is recognised as a world-class cluster for both life sciences and technology. CMR is typical of the sort of Cambridge-based innovative businesses that we seek to support: in its case leveraging its cross-disciplinary networks to revolutionise the area of surgical robotics.”