HTC just invested $9M in a startup that uses VR to improve neurosurgery

The Collaboration

Medical startup Surgical Theater just raised $9M in a Series A round funded by HTC Corp. In line with the investment, the smartphone company's VR headset HTC Vive will be incorporating the Surgical Theater software into device in an effort to improve surgeon preparation prior to the surgery . Through the marriage of the two companies' unique technologies, Surgical Theater's CEO Moty Avisar says that this partnership will help shrink "the surgeon virtually, so he can walk into the brain and explore areas he could actually never be in otherwise." Through the Surgical Navigation Advance Platform (SNAP), surgeons can look through a personalized and navigable map of a problem area through CT scan and MRI data.

The Future

HTC's CEO Cher Wang says that the collaboration with the startup "is an exciting opportunity to pioneer the medical use of VR, with a remarkable application in the highly specialized field of neurosurgery that enhances patient care could help save lives." Avisar adds that HTC Vive has enabled "a significant leap" for brain surgeons alongside Surgical Theater's existing VR applications. The platform is now being tested across many hospitals all over the United States, and SNAP is well on its way to getting a CE mark of approval from the FDA for preoperative and intraoperative use.