MedTech Company KARL STORZ Acquires British AI Specialist Innersight Labs
The family-owned MedTech company KARL STORZ announces the acquisition of the innovative software manufacturer Innersight Labs Ltd. (ISL) headquartered in London. In addition to state-of-the-art endoscopes, high-end medical devices, and integrated solutions for the operating room, KARL STORZ is also continuing to expand in innovative software solutions. Its large customer base, including top-class physicians worldwide, can now look forward to 3D models created from medical scans, making surgery considerably easier and even more successful. The know-how gained with the acquisition in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) will greatly enhance KARL STORZ's portfolio. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
ISL is a British company founded in 2015 by Oxford graduates Lorenz Berger and Eoin Hyde, and they were joined shortly thereafter by Matt Gibb, another former Oxford PhD student. ISL developed Innersight3D, a software-only product that allows surgeons to create a patient-specific 3D model from a medical CT or MRI scan. ISL labels received scans according to the different tissue types and creates an interactive 3D model. The three-dimensional representation can then be accessed and interacted with via a web link sent to the physician. Because of the more accurate preoperative assessment, benefits include for example reducing operation time and the risk of surgical complications. Compared to competing products, ISL's AI-based algorithm can significantly reduce manual effort, reducing cost per model and time to deployment. The company currently employs eight people and also operates an office in India. As part of the globally active KARL STORZ Group, the next steps are to focus on commercial scaling and joint technology development.
Thriving innovations is part of the KARL STORZ DNA
KARL STORZ's success story originally began in 1945 with innovations in the ENT (ear, nose and throat) sector. The founder Karl Storz had a clear vision to empower minimally invasive surgery and revolutionize the treatment of patients worldwide. In the meantime, the 8,800 employees spanning the firm set the standard for many smart products in the healthcare sector. “We want to continue pioneering MedTech, particularly in the areas of software and robotics. The research background that ISL brings to the table therefore fits ideally with our vision, mission, and strategic goals. We warmly welcome them to the KARL STORZ family,” said Thorsten Molitor, Executive Vice President at KARL STORZ. The ISL team also has in-depth knowledge of soft tissue deformation and mechanics, computational physics, image processing and machine learning, as well as experience in cloud software development.
KARL STORZ and Innersight Labs combine forces
The acquisition of ISL adds an AI product to KARL STORZ's existing portfolio. It is a next step on their journey to push AI in laparoscopic and robotic imaging solutions in the healthcare industry. KARL STORZ wants to incorporate the extensive possibilities of AI into the development of cutting-edge medical technology at an early stage and thus bring the best instruments for patients with the highest safety standards to the market.
Close cooperation with KARL STORZ`s robotics entity
KARL STORZ VentureOne, a KARL STORZ subsidiary with a focus on robotics based in Singapore and Munich, is also eagerly anticipating close cooperation with ISL. "The development of our robotic products will benefit enormously from ISL's knowledge with regard to the use of AI. We are therefore very much looking forward to the cooperation and to further growing together in this area," said Stephan Abele, Managing Director of KARL STORZ VentureOne.
