Dr. Oleynikov’s Virtual Incision Corp. receives $2 million investment

Two University of Nebraska professors and their start-up company have received a $2 million investment to move their unique miniature robotic surgical tools one step closer to the marketplace.

Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D.

Shane Farritor, Ph.D.

UNMC surgeon Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., and University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineer Shane Farritor, Ph.D., founders of Virtual Incision Corporation, announced that they have completed a Series A financing led by PrairieGold Venture Partners and Bluestem Capital. The inventors also announced that their corporate headquarters will be in Lincoln. The technology is exclusively licensed through UNMC.

“The money allows the technology to move one step closer to FDA approval and ultimate commercialization,” said Dr. Oleynikov, associate professor of surgery and director of the Center for Advanced Surgical Technology and Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery at UNMC.

The investment will be used to develop advanced prototypes of the first inexpensive in vivo, miniature robotic surgical tools and camera systems for single incision abdominal and pelvic procedures.

These robots can be inserted through a single tiny incision in the navel to perform minimally invasive surgeries that significantly reduce pain and recovery times for patients. Each camera-carrying robot is remotely controlled by the surgeon and capable of performing complex surgeries such as gall bladder removal and colon resection.

“My vision is to develop tools that allow surgeons to operate with less-invasive techniques,” Dr. Oleynikov said. “I don’t want my patients to suffer from pain and discomfort and have to stay in the hospital for lengthy periods of time as they do now from conventional open surgery.”