Drill Surgeries Ltd
Founder: Moises Barbera Ramos
The Problem
During Intramedullary Nailing surgeries, a common surgery to assist in the welding of the broken femur, tibia or humerus, surgeons insert a metal rod inside the broken bone so this one can naturally rebuild around it.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to fix this rod to the bone, so surgeons use an excessive number of X-Rays and a trial-and-error method that delays the surgery and puts medical personnel and patients in front of unnecessary risks.
What should be a straightforward operation taking no more than 30 minutes currently takes up to 2 hours.
93% of over 100 interviewed surgeons say it is not easy to perform this surgery and 97% want to see a new solution on the market.
Additionally, while this problem impacts 8 million patients a year, we have already identified many other surgeries suffering the same problems that could benefit from using our technology as a guidance system.
The Solution
Drill Surgeries’ solution is an advanced Artificial Intelligence guidance system, Zaory™. Our patent-pending technology, uses an advanced AI run on a Mixed Reality headset that maps the operating room, recognises where the surgery is taking place and builds a series of 3D models to visually guide the surgeon to complete the operation without radiation.
A level of accuracy and 3D immersion that cannot be reached with 2D X-Ray static images.
As a result from this implementation, we can reduce operating time by up to 75%, radiation by up to 60%, risks, costs while we improve patient outcome and most importantly, take an archaic surgical procedure into the modern age of healthcare.
The Company
Drill Surgeries was founded by Moises Barbera, in 2019 from his college dorm at the University of Liverpool and after working developing Artificial Intelligence algorithms at CERN in Switzerland and JP Morgan in China.
Moises passion for medical technology stems from his father who’s been working within orthopaedic surgery his whole career. Moises grew up around hospitals, learning about different procedures and dreamed of one day creating a technology that could improve health care and save lives.
Drill Surgeries utilises Moises technical expertise in Artificial Intelligence and our team of surgeons’ clinical experience to develop guidance systems that improve surgical accuracy, save time, reduce trauma to patients and improve quality of care.
We have recently secured he highly competitive Innovate UK Grant (with a 5% success rate) to continue growing a world class team who will focus on building the business within the NHS and expanding relationships around the world.
This support along with that one from investors and startup competitions support our ambitious goals to become a global leader in surgical AI guidance.
A Quote
“I was lucky enough to take part on last year’s Tata Varsity Pitch and it was an amazing experience, very talented entrepreneurs and such a diverse pool of experiences that made 2021 cohort one to keep in touch with.
This year, Tata Varsity Pitch continues to raise the bar, I have been fortunate enough to win the semi-finals, where I encountered many brilliant entrepreneurs that deserved their own spot on the finals, we shared our LinkedIn pages and connected so, even though our paths do not continue hand-by-hand in this cohort 2022, we will continue to support each other as we build our startups further.
At the end of the day, Tata Varsity Pitch is always a filter for good ideas and entrepreneurs so, making it to the semi-finals is already an accomplishment and a valuable network to keep around!.”
Top Tips
Show that you can create a big impact in an important market. Try to keep the pitch to the point, create a story as you share your project and make it personal, people care about your idea if they can relate to it.
Show measurables, numbers are always nice, one or two figures showing the size and impact of your innovation will bring validation to your project.
Finally, have plan, your startup does not end at the end of this competition so what are your next steps after the competition, what will happen if you don’t get the money and how will you increase growth of your business if you get to win?
These few lines summarise my thought process when preparing for this pitching competition and I am grateful it has proven successful at this round. Once step at a time, everything falls where it has to fall (if you put in the work) ?