augmedicsAugmedics announced that it appointed former Bardy Diagnostics CEO Kevin Hykes as its new president & CEO.

Hykes, a 30-year medical device veteran, previously served as an operating partner at Revival Healthcare Capital. Before that, he was president & CEO at Bardy Diagnostics, having held the same roles at Relievant Medsystems before that.

Additionally, Hykes has been an operating partner at Versant Ventures and chairman & CEO at Metavention. Before Metavention, he was president & CEO of Cameron Health, which was bought by Boston Scientific in 2012.

The appointment of Hykes follows the September hiring of 28-year industry veteran Raj Asarpota as CFO of the company, which develops the xvision system for augmented reality-based surgical guidance.

“I am thrilled to welcome a commercial CEO of Kevin’s caliber,” Augmedics Founder Nissan Elimelech, who will stay with the company as chief product officer, said in a news release. “Our ability to recruit veteran operating executives like Kevin and Raj is a testament to the game-changing potential of the xvision system in the surgical market. Kevin’s track record speaks for itself, and I can’t wait to work with him in this exciting new chapter of Augmedics’ history.”

Chicago-based Augmedics touts the FDA-cleared xvision Spine System as the first augmented reality guidance system. The company designed it to allow surgeons to “see” the patient’s anatomy through skin and tissue as if they have “x-ray vision,” allowing for the accurate navigation of instruments and implants during spine procedures.

“While there are a number of virtual and augmented reality visualization systems on the market for educational and planning purposes, Augmedics is the first-ever AR system to demonstrate the precision and accuracy necessary for approval as a surgical guidance system and remains the leading spine-based system on the market,” Hykes said. “I am excited to lead the company into this next era as we continue to fundamentally disrupt the way that surgery is practiced with the groundbreaking xvision system.”