Proximie raises $80M to let surgeons virtually scrub in

The news: Augmented reality (AR) surgery platform Proximie raised $80 million, pushing its total funding to date to $130 million.

Here’s how it works: Proximie’s platform lets surgeons virtually “scrub in” to operating rooms to share their skills in real time.

For example, multiple surgeons in remote locations can use Proximie’s annotation and “AR Hand” to physically show surgeons where to make an incision. It offers four HD camera views and lets physicians overlay 2D images and 3D models the different camera views.

Proximie’s platform defeats a major telehealth barrier: Connectivity.

Proximie’s solution can be deployed using low bandwidth. That means it’s just as functional in a major health system as it is in a rural or low-resource hospital (where 5G or fast connectivity may not be as accessible). Low connectivity often prevents some rural physicians from deploying telehealth—especially in time-sensitive situations like surgery.

Are health systems interested in AR surgery, though? In short, Yes.

• Proximie already operates in 100 hospitals across 35 countries, including large US health systems like Advent Health and Providence.
• Osso VR uses Oculus headsets to train surgeons on certain procedures before entering the operating room. The VR entrant is backed by Kaiser Permanente’s VC arm.
• Plus, last month, spine surgeons at UConn Health successfully conducted surgery using AR startup Augmedics’ headset. The physicians described it as a “heads-up display on your windshield” that saved them time from looking up to see the CT scan.