Augmedics announced today that it appointed former Medtronic leader Dr. Tal Davidson as its VP of research & development.
Davidson most recently served as artificial intelligence (AI) research director site lead for Medtronic’s Visionsense. The medtech giant’s R&D site leads the development of intraoperative visualization and AI opportunities in minimally invasive surgery.
News of Davidson’s appointment comes after Augmedics recently acquired digital health assets from Surgalign and Holo Surgical. Augmedics won a competitive auction for the digital health assets with a cash purchase price of $900,000. The acquisition strengthened the company’s augmented reality (AR) and AI portfolio.
“The future of spine navigation exists at the intersection of best-in-class advanced visualization and decision support,” said Augmedics president & CEO Kevin Hykes. “Tal’s multidisciplinary leadership in intraoperative imaging & artificial intelligence is a tremendous asset as we build out the next generation of the Xvision platform and continue our mission to deliver improved surgical outcomes for surgeons and their patients. We are proud to welcome Tal to the Augmedics team.”
Further good news for Augmedics follows the closing of an $82.5 million financing round in June. It earmarked the funds to support its “rapidly expanding” U.S. commercial footprint.
The company also celebrated its 25,000 screw implanted using the xvision system in September after announcing 4,000 patients treated in June. The Xvision Spine System uses augmented reality to give surgeons “X-ray vision” during surgery. It launched new, FDA-cleared features and indications for the system in March.