About Us
Founded in 2017, Activ Surgical is a new breed medical device start-up focused on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs to healthcare systems through the integration of advanced computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics designed to seamlessly fit within operating room workflow while providing advanced imaging and diagnostic accuracy during surgery.
Leadership TEAM:
TODD USEN
CEO
Accomplished and seasoned leader with more than 25 years of medical device and healthcare experience. Proven track record of leading, developing and executing on commercialization strategies and driving market development initiatives to deliver profitable growth. Previously was the President of the Medical Systems Group at Olympus, President of Orthopedics at Smith & Nephew, and Vice President at Boston Scientific.
DR. PETER KIM
Co-Founder &
Chief Science Officer
World-renowned surgeon and medical technologist. Dr. Kim is the inventor of Activ Surgical’s technology; having developed it over seven years with over $13m in non-dilutive grant funding while leading the Shaikh Zayed Institute at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C.
TOM CALEF
CTO
Highly accomplished medical roboticist and seasoned leader of engineering teams that delivered breakthrough innovation in surgical robotics. Previously was the Director of Advanced Robotics at Medrobotics, where he led the development and release of the first flexible surgical robotics platform, grew the engineering team from two to fifty people, and took numerous surgical robotics products through 510k clearance.
MICHAEL RUEHLMAN
GM & VP
Three-time entrepreneur and finance and technology executive with a track record managing high-performing teams and growing companies from concept stage through exit. Most recently was the co-founder and President of Sunlight Financial, where he was responsible for scaling operations to a team of 50+, and raising over $100M in equity.
Dr. Peter Kim
Activ Surgical
David Wells
Water Street Capital
Jonathan Ellman
GPV
Seth Teicher
GPV
Todd Usen
Activ Surgical
ADVISORY BOARD:
Dr. Steven Schwaitzberg
Professor and Chairman - Department of Surgery.
University at Buffalo
John Galeotti, PhD
Director of the Biomedical Image Guidance Laboratory
CMU
Dr. Uma Duvvuri
Director of Robotic Head & Neck Surgery. Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology.
UPMC
Lukas Biewald
Artificial Intelligence Expert
Founder Figure Eight
Our Proprietary Technology
- Activ Surgical completed the world’s first autonomous robotic suturing of soft tissue
in a live pig...outperforming open, laparoscopic, and robot assisted techniques (STAR)* - Backed by a deep patent portfolio, STAR’s core innovations are scalable, software-centric, and hardware agnostic
* Azad Shademan, Ryan S. Decker, Justin D. Opfermann, Simon Leonard, Axel Krieger, Peter C. W. Kim: T Supervised autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery. Science Translational Medicine Vol. 8, Issue 337
Supervised Autonomous Robotic Soft Tissue Surgery
Autonomous Robot Surgeon Bests Humans in World First
Outperformed human surgeons
Autonomous Robotic Surgery Takes a Step Forward
Demonstrated the ability to conduct autonomous (supervised)
soft tissue surgery with the robotic device
BOARD of directors:
Advanced
Computer Vision
Autonomous Robotics/Controls/
Machine Guided Surgery
Artificial Intelligence
SOLUTION:
The integration of advanced computer vision, machine intelligence and robotics enables surgeons to enter the Augmented Age; bringing humans and technology together to do the things neither can do alone.
Company News
Accomplished MedTech Executive Appointed to Lead Activ Surgical
Activ Surgical, a pioneering startup focused on delivering advanced imaging...
NASA Selects Top Three iTech Innovators for Continued Collaboration
Judges at NASA’s second iTech Forum have selected the top three best...
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Supervised Autonomous Robotic Soft Tissue Surgery
The operating room may someday be run by robots, with surgeons overseeing their moves...
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Smooth Operator: Robot Could Transform Soft-Tissue Surgery
Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, or STAR, is taking robotics to a new frontier in...
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Imaging, Navigation and Robotics Panel Discussion at Harvard...
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This Robot Performs Surgery Better Than Your Doctor
STAR has already operated on live soft tissue without human assistance...
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Full Press Release
Accomplished MedTech Executive Appointed to Lead Activ Surgical, Advanced Surgical Robotics Company
BOSTON, March 1, 2019
Activ Surgical, a pioneering startup focused on delivering advanced imaging and diagnostic accuracy during robotic surgery, today announced the appointment of Todd Usen as its first Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Usen is an accomplished and seasoned leader with more than 25 years of medical device and healthcare experience. He has a proven track record of leading, developing and executing on commercialization strategies and driving market development initiatives.
“I’m incredibly thrilled to have Todd join and lead the Activ Surgical team. Todd’s outstanding experience and leadership in the endoscopic space provides a natural synergy to Activ’s disruptive vision of delivering enhanced surgical vision and intelligence,” commented Peter Kim, M.D., Co-founder and Chief Science Officer for Activ Surgical.
Usen comes to Activ Surgical after serving as President, Medical Systems Group for Olympus for the past 3 years. Prior to that Usen spent nearly eight years at Smith & Nephew in senior leadership roles, including President of the U.S. Orthopaedics group. Usen began his medtech career at Boston Scientific, holding multiple leadership positions within the Endoscopy division, and later was appointed to VP, Sales for their Neurovascular division.
“It’s a tremendous privilege to be selected to lead Activ Surgical as its first CEO,” commented Usen. “I look forward to working with our Board, Advisors and Activ Surgical team to realize the full potential of our unique and proprietary technology.”
“Todd’s leadership will be an asset to Activ Surgical,” said Jonathan Ellman, Activ Surgical Board member and CEO, GreatPoint Foundry. “His exceptional experience in the healthcare space will help us deliver the benefits of Activ Surgical’s pioneering technology to surgeons and their patients around the world.“
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About Activ Surgical
Founded in 2017, Activ Surgical is a new breed medical device start-up focused on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs to healthcare systems through the integration of advanced computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics designed to seamlessly fit within operating room workflow while providing advanced imaging and diagnostic accuracy during surgery.
More information can be found at www.activsurgical.com.
For more information:
Michael Ruehlman
GM, Activ Surgical
617.333.8162 x200
Careers
We’d love to hear from you…
Activ Surgical, a pioneering surgical robotics company is looking for STARS…individuals who are interested in shaping the future of healthcare by improving patient outcomes, reducing healthcare costs, and addressing unintended surgical complications.
Interested? Check out our open roles below or just give us a call. We’d be happy to chat with you about our company, our unique technology and the possibilities of joining our growing and dedicated team in Boston.
Call: 617-333-8162 (Ext. 401)
Email: info@activsurgical.com
Open Roles
Senior/Staff Electrical Engineer
Strength in high speed and digital design with specific experience in video systems. This technical lead will have responsibility for design and development of electrical interfaces and systems of a robotic system. This career opportunity allows an engineer to get involved in some of the most complex software and hardware challenges and find innovative design solutions.
Ideal Qualifications:
- BSEE/MSEE
- Rapid ability to conceptualize and design with CAD system
- Experience with FPGA down-selection and development
- Experience in robotics preferred, not required
- Experience in complex system involving hardware and software required
- Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment
- Designing for IEC 60601 preferred
- System architecture planning experience preferred
- Concept to prototype to commercial product experience strongly preferred
For more information:
Please call 617-333-8162 (Ext. 401)
or email: info@activsurgical.com
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Senior/Staff AI / Computer Vision Engineer
Demonstrated experience in medical device software development. This senior level role will be responsible for a cloud-based data and learning strategy and the integration into a novel surgical system.
Ideal Qualifications:
- BS / MS Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering with a strong focus on real-time image processing
- PhD preferred but not required
- Rapid ability to conceptualize and design complex software
- Experience in complex electromechanical systems
- Design for 62304 and the newest FDA guidances
- Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment
For more information:
Please call 617-333-8162 (Ext. 401)
or email: info@activsurgical.com
Contact Us
Activ Surgical, Inc.
840 Summer Street
Suite 108
Boston, MA 02127
Phone: 617-333-8162 (Ext. 401)
Email: info@activsurgical.com
Copyright © 2019 Activ Surgical - All Rights Reserved.