Advanced Technologies Working in Support of Medical Solutions

It used to be the case – in the heady days of the 1950s and 1960s, all the way through to the ‘Star Wars’ Strategic Defense Initiative of the 1980s – that many, if not most, industrial and technological innovations stemmed from development work originally undertaken in support of military programmes. Over the last 30 years or more, that position has reversed, with the consumer electronics, scientific, industrial, automotive, space and even entertainment domains assuming pole position as far as technology development and insertion is concerned.

It makes a pleasant – not to say, interesting  – change, therefore, to see at least one company again leveraging solutions developed for military purposes and applying them to the equally demanding domains of daily life and society. On 3 October, Elbit Systems announced that its subsidiaries Beyeonics Surgical Ltd and Beyeonics Vision Ltd have completed a financing round in the aggregate total of $36 million (€31 million), comprised of an investment of $26 million led by Italian investment fund TechWald Holding and Israeli investment fund Alive Israel HealthTech, with participation of existing shareholders LR Group, XT Hi-Tech, Aurum Ventures and Mivtach Shamir; and a $10 million convertible loan to Beyeonics Vision by global surgical ophthalmic company BVI Medical. Following the investment, Elbit Systems becomes a minority shareholder in both companies.

The two medical technology companies aim to interface operating room systems with augmented reality (AR), tracking and image processing/AI platforms, providing surgeons with valuable information and decision guidance while performing automatic tasks. The technology is designed to establish a new visualisation and control standard in operating rooms, by creating an integrated work environment.

“The completion of an additional financing round attests to the commercial potential of our technologies. We are proud to have spun off companies that leverage some of our unique technologies to materially enhance surgeons’ capabilities in the operating room. We hope this investment will enable Beyeonics Surgical and Beyeonics Vision to expand product development, to include additional surgical applications and to accelerate commercialization,” commented Elbit Systems’ President & CEO, Bezhalel Machlis.