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Doug Fairbanks left a robotics commercialization role at Johnson & Johnson to lead a deep tech startup most surgeons had never heard of. In this conversation, the president and CEO of VISIE Inc. explains why — and what their continuous anatomic auto tracking technology could mean for the future of robotic-assisted surgery.

VISIE started as Advanced Scanners, a company founded by optical physicist Aaron Bernstein to solve the problem of brain shift during cranial procedures. Fairbanks saw the technology's potential far beyond neuroscience and joined to steer the company toward orthopedics. The result is a 3D spatial computing platform that tracks anatomy in real time at 254-micron accuracy — without pins, arrays, or registration. Fairbanks walks through how VISIE built all its hardware and software in-house to push the limits of what's possible, why that Apollo 13 engineering mentality defines the company's culture, and what it took to go from four scans per second to over twenty-five.

This episode also covers the business side of deep tech innovation: how VISIE navigates the sub-component regulatory pathway, what partnership conversations with strategic companies actually sound like, how 16 patents in eight months shaped their IP strategy, and why the board in the other room still reads “patients treated: zero.” Whether you're a surgeon curious about pin-free tracking or a founder building something no one has built before, this is a candid look at what it takes to bring genuinely new technology to the operating room.

Learn more about VISIE at https://visievision.com

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 From neuroscience startup to surgical vision company
03:55 Launching Velys robotics at DePuy Synthes
07:44 What is continuous anatomic auto tracking
11:07 Why VISIE builds all hardware and software in-house
13:54 Teaching robots to see what surgeons see
18:30 The hardest technical challenge at VISIE
21:00 Validating deep tech with the surgical market
25:42 Scaling a startup with contract manufacturing
28:09 Regulatory pathway as a sub-component device
32:00 Protecting innovation with an aggressive IP strategy
35:09 Future of pin-free tracking in hips and knees
37:29 Advice for surgeon innovators starting a company

Listen to the AHF Podcast on your preferred platform:
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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ahf-podcast/id1749521487
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CrGJyvRiQFTCU3FFFVvHc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ahf-podcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anteriorhipfoundation
Homepage: https://anteriorhipfoundation.com

This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only.

The content discussed does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional judgment. Clinicians should rely on their own training, experience, and clinical decision-making when applying information from this discussion.

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FITM: The Extended Conversation with Doug Fairbanks