SURGAR (surgery augmented reality) combines artificial intelligence, computer vision, and clinical expertise in minimally invasive surgery.
“I operate by looking at a screen, not my hands.” Nicolas Bourdel, gynecologist at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital and university professor, is very proud when he talks about SURGAR, which he created in 2019 with fellow surgeons Michel Canis and Bertrand Le Roy, and computer vision professor Adrien Bartoli. The Auvergne-based company combines the best of computer vision and AI.

As the robot becomes the hand and the camera becomes the eyes, the software will be able to understand the intraoperative environment and bring artificial intelligence to the surgeon to enhance their performance. Demonstration with the company president: “We take the patient’s digital twin, merge it in real-time, and guide the rest of the surgeon.” This makes it possible to “make the invisible visible, as if the organ were semi-transparent,” and thus visualize the internal structure of organs such as vessels or tumors.

Minimally invasive surgery, performed using a camera and small incisions, is safer, faster, and more effective. “The goal is to halve surgical complications and increase surgical precision twentyfold!” continues Nicolas Bourdel.

Another advantage is the significant reduction in costs for healthcare facilities in terms of hospitalization time, as the surgical procedure is faster. This digitization of the operating room, which the start-up has made its credo, is a revolutionary practice. including facilitating training with easy-to-use tools: “We have a cart with a plug-and-play computer in the operating room.”

Healthtech and hospitals come together to serve the healthcare of tomorrow
Founded five years ago, the start-up is the result of work carried out by a laboratory at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, Clermont Auvergne University, and the CNRS. Shortly after being appointed university professor, Nicolas Bourdel and his team were approached by BUSI, the local incubator, to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure.

Nine months after the company was founded, an initial round of fundraising was conducted with regional investors and business angels, including an American surgeon. The university hospital also participated and acquired a stake in the start-up. The aim was to create a virtuous circle so that “public and university research could participate in the venture, but also benefit from a return if it proved to be a success story.” It must be said that there is considerable room for improvement, as operating rooms are still largely undigitized. SURGAR is also focusing its research on endometriosis, which affects 10% of women, with a very “machine learning approach to detecting lesions and suggesting incisions,” explains Nicolas Bourdel.

Remove regulatory barriers
Since its creation, SURGAR has successfully leveraged its local presence and surrounded itself with strategic partners such as the University Hospital, the EncoV team at the Institut Pascal – Clermont Auvergne University -, CNRS, Clermont Auvergne INP, and benefited from private and public funding beyond the region. It has also signed a university-hospital research partnership with the Bordeaux University Hospital.
The U-SURGAR solution dedicated to uterine surgery has just received its CE marking, which, in addition to being a guarantee of reliability, authorizes the marketing of the augmented reality software on the European market.
However, stringent regulations governing medical devices do not always allow the young Clermont-Ferrand-based company to move as quickly as it would like.

In any case, it inspires confidence.
Winner of several national and European calls for projects, such as the BPI Deeptech program and FEmaLe, the largest call for projects in machine learning for endometriosis, the start-up is raising more and more funds.

The latest, in September 2024, brings together new entrants—XAnge, BPIFrance, Elaia Partners, and major business angels including Jacques Gardette, serial entrepreneur and founder of Biocorp. It will enable the start-up to launch U-SURGAR, a software program dedicated to women suffering from fibroids or adenomyosis (endometriosis within the uterus), and to finalize and market L-SURGAR and K-SURGAR, intended for the treatment of liver and kidney cancers, with a target launch date between 2025 and 2027.