Sammy Khalifa

Here is my Spring 2025 update of my overview deck on commercial surgical robotics. For a backgrounder on why I do this, see my post from last fall: https://lnkd.in/eEVWuGG6 I've added 51 robots in the past 6 months - there are now 616 robots and 550 companies. The added robots are : 13 – endovascular 2 – endoluminal 11 – abdominal/thoracic 1 – cardiac 5 – orthopedics 1 – GI 4 – percutaneous 1 – hair 3 – lung  1 – renal 3 – neuro 1 – ultrasound 3 – spine 1 – vascular access 23 China, 11 US, 3 Japan, 3 Korea, 2 Israel, 1each:  Australia/Canada/Germany/India/Italy/Singapore/Switzerland I reworked quite a few of the slides, added 6 new overview slides for additional categories of robots, put in a new IP allocation assessment, and updated all the stats illustration slides to reflect the new number of robots. One thing I will point out is that it looks like the rate of creation of new Chinese surgical robotics companies may be slowing. I had thought that the total number of Chinese companies would surpass the number of US companies by now but it has not. The trend is clear in the deck. Will be interesting to see if this continues.

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🦾 Last week Alt-Bionics, Inc. attended the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Altanta, GA, where we showcased our newest technology upgrades alongside MANUS™ and Sensible Robotics In this video you'll see our typical teleoperation demo, but this time with a bit of precise sensation included! As I'm sure most of us in the robotics space know, tactile feedback is critical for the eventually autonomy that all humanoid robots are aiming for. Whether the robots are sorting packages, handling hazardous waste, or assisting with simple daily tasks around a home or office, sensor fusion is going to be essential for reliable navigation and interaction... And high resolution tactile sensing has remained the most elusive piece of this puzzle, up until now. With this new integration, our hands can now detect precise forces, the direction of these forces, slippage, and based on those measurements, adjust and adapt their grips and finger positions in real time. This allows our hands, and the robots they are attached to, to interact with and understand the complex, ever changing environments of this world and society. The best part? This will be folded back into our prosthetic models to eventually allow those living with limb loss to regain a more accurate sense of touch. We're proud to be contributing to the next generation of intelligent robotics and prosthetics, and we look forward to collaborating with others advancing this critical space. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue building the future of dexterous hands for both humanoid robots, and those living with limb loss. #TactileSensing #TactileSensor #Sensing #RoboticHands #BionicHand #DexterousHands #Dexterity #AltBionics #SensorFusion #Humanoids #HumanoidRobots

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🚀 Design for X (DFX) in MedTech: Engineering Beyond Functionality 🩺Forget just building something that works. In MedTech, building the right thing the right way is what sets category leaders apart. That’s where Design for X (DFX) comes in. It’s not just design—it’s design with foresight. Design for X = “Design for [what matters most]”. Whether your “X” is manufacturability, regulatory approval, user-friendliness, or robustness under real-world use, DFX is your startup’s cheat code for: ✔️ Speed to market ✔️ Lower risk ✔️ Scalable quality ✔️ Clinical confidence 👀 Here’s How the Best Are Using DFX 👇 🫀 Cardiovascular Implants Design for Reliability: Your implant isn’t allowed to fail. Period. Think fatigue-tested nitinol, FMEA built into product, and robust simulations that predict years of performance, Accelerated Durability Testing etc. Design for Manufacturing (DFM): Precision laser-cut stents, consistent balloon-catheter assemblies, automated QC—designed to scale, not just succeed in a lab. 🦵 Orthotic Braces & Prosthetic Feet Design for Customization: Every leg, gait, and weight class is different. DFX + 3D scanning = braces that align, prosthetics that fit and function. Design for Assembly & Modularity: Field-assembled transtibial feet enable access in low-resource settings. Swappable components boost repairability and revenue. 🕹️ VR-Based Upper Limb Rehab Design for Engagement & Feedback: Rehab without adherence is failure. DFX helps gamify therapy, drive neuroplasticity, and personalize intensity. Design for Accessibility: Ensure your system works across age, dexterity, and disability levels. That’s DFX at work. 🎯 Startups, Here’s the Playbook: 💥 Design for Regulatory — Don’t retrofit compliance at the end. Bake it in. 💥 Design for Cost & Reimbursement — Your BOM matters, but so does CPT code viability. 💥 Design for Human Factors — If a nurse, surgeon, or grandma can’t use it, it’s not ready. 💥 Design for Scale — If it takes 5 PhDs to assemble your product, you’re not scaling. 🚀 DFX is not a checklist. It’s a startup mindset. It’s how you engineer excellence, de-risk failure, wow clinicians, and most importantly—improve patient lives. 🧠💡 Pro tip for founders: Start with one “X” that’s mission-critical to your success. Design for it relentlessly. Then add another. And another. That’s how good becomes great. ✨ MedTech leaders, engineers, PMs— What’s your X right now? 👀 Let’s build better, together. Decoding MedTech by Subhash NN. #MedTech #DesignForX #DFX #StartupEngineering #MedicalDevices #Prosthetics #Orthotics #Cardiovascular #HumanCenteredDesign #MedicalInnovation #MVP #DesignToScale #FDAReady #Founders #HealthTech #ProductDesign

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Taking a medical device from concept to market isn’t a straight line. It’s a series of technical, regulatory, and commercial hurdles — each one critical. At Pinetics, we approach development like an engineered relay race. Each phase hands over to the next — without dropping speed or precision. It starts with 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Feasibility studies, risk mapping, and early-stage prototyping help eliminate failure pathways before design even begins. Next is 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. We integrate 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, and 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 — ensuring the device isn’t just functional, but intelligent and future-proof. 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. We don’t wait for the final prototype to run tests. Pre-clinical performance is modeled from first-generation designs, saving cycles and avoiding late-stage rework. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 is parallel, not sequential. We align design documentation, risk files, and usability testing with FDA, MDR, and ISO standards from day zero — not after. Then comes 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫. Our DFM (Design for Manufacturability) processes ensure the final design can scale without quality compromise. Finally: 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. Clinical data support, technical files, and commercialization strategies converge — so launch isn’t delayed by last-mile surprises. In my view, building medical devices isn’t about moving fast alone. It’s about designing every step to 𝐝𝐞-𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞. That’s the gap we close at Pinetics — from concept to clinic. #Innovation #Technologies #MedTech #HealthTech #MedicalDevices

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Andrew Savarese, from PA Consulting and I discuss the endoluminal market in surgical robotics. We dig into the emerging technical challenges but also how the economics of a D&T Hybrid (diagnose & therapeutic) robotic platform will have a compelling cost benefit basis that may well drive higher adoption rates in centers of care as well as better outcomes for patients. This category is rolling very rapidly. I believe that new technologies will emerge that will represent an inflection point in surgical robotics and a revolution in end effector technologies.

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MassDevice has #surgicalrobotics news out of Johnson & Johnson MedTech. The company has launched its FDA-cleared Dualto energy system, which combines multiple energy modalities into an integrated platform for use across open and minimally invasive surgery. The company says it plans to use Dualto with its in-development Ottava #roboticsurgery system. (I'll include a link to the full story in the comments.) #medtech #meddevice

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Question for my connections: Have you ever worked on a medical device and needed to change the material of a critical component AFTER your initial design freeze? 😱 I’m often asked: ‘When should we finalize our balloon material?’ The short answer: 'As early as possible, BUT evaluate multiple materials first' The slightly longer answer: 'Question, learn and do plenty of performance testing BEFORE you freeze the design' You don’t want to be making changes to your material AFTER you’ve frozen your design, or after you've completed expensive regulatory testing like biocompatibility/cytotoxicity etc. A material change late in the development cycle can mean re-doing costly assembly processes and DV testing - which can set a project back by months and cripple the budget. Working with specialists on your balloon component design and material selection early can save a lot of time and money later. Let me know in the comments if you’ve had to make a late material change - and what the ramifications were 👇👇👇 Maybe by sharing our experiences we can save others some engineering pain!

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