According to various studies, thousands of people die every year around the world due to preventable medical errors. Could one leading factor be that surgical training has barely evolved in decades?
It's a question that Virtualisurg founder & CEO Nicolas Mignan has often asked himself.
Today, surgeons learn by practicing on real patients, animals, or outdated simulators raising serious ethical, safety, and efficiency concerns. The learning curve is long, often spanning 10 to 15 years before a surgeon reaches full professional maturity and mistakes can be fatal.
But what if surgeons could train like pilots, perfecting their skills through ultra-realistic simulations before ever touching a real patient?
Enter VirtualiSurg, a French deep-tech startup determined to revolutionize surgical training, reduce errors, and improve patient outcomes through a combination of virtual reality (VR), AI, and robotics.
What is VirtualiSurg?
While VR-based surgical training is not a new concept, VirtualiSurg takes it to the next level by incorporating robotic-assisted tools and AI-driven performance tracking.
Virtualisurg is a meta-learning platform (welcome to the Mediverse!) where surgeons practice their techniques in a VR-powered operating room with real surgical instruments, haptic feedback, and AI-guided mentorship.
The goal is to make surgical training as realistic and effective as possible, minimizing errors and ultimately saving lives.
Why VirtualiSurg?
The MedTech was founded by Mignan in 2017. He said VirtualiSurg was born from a desire to address stagnation in surgical training and a belief that technological advancements could transform the field.
Mignan, who had spent over 20 years working with medical faculties in French universities, was motivated by the possibilities offered by immersive technology. He saw the potential to use cutting-edge virtual reality tools to improve the efficiency and safety of surgical training. Inspired by the aviation industry, where pilots train on simulators before flying real aircraft, he asked: Why can’t we apply this same technology to train surgeons?
He also felt a strong sense of urgency to preserve France’s reputation for excellence in medicine and surgery, fearing that countries like China and the U.S. could pull ahead in this vital field.
In 2021 Mignan met Dr. Elen Collaço, who had been researching virtual reality in surgical training at Brazil’s Polytechnic University for her PhD. By combining their expertise, they realized they could accelerate the development of a truly innovative training tool.
Under the hood
VirtualiSurg specializes in training for 8 of the 15 most common surgical specialties, including Orthopedics, Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, and Oncology.
The goal? To create a fully interactive surgical training experience using a blend of virtual reality, AI, big data, and robotics.
Trainee surgeons wear a VR headset and enter a virtual operating room, where they use hardware simulators - silicone-based sensor pads and robotic arms - to perform surgeries. The surgical instruments, either 3D printed by the startup or borrowed from the hospital, are attached to the robotic arms, which simulate real surgical sensations, like resistance and texture, using double-layered silicone to replicate human tissue.
Mignan explained: “There is a huge variety of surgical instruments on the market today. These can vary greatly from one hospital to another. One of the most common phrases I hear in hospitals is 'how does this work?!' Being able to attach real instruments to the sensors means that surgeons can practice the medical operation ahead of time with the instruments they will actually be using.”
A virtual mentor guides trainees, offering real-time feedback and alerting them to potential mistakes. Surgeons can also track their progress via a smart analytics dashboard, which logs operating times, success rates, and errors.
Business Model
With 8 global patents, VirtualiSurg stands out in the medical training space. Mignan said: “We have fewer than 10 competitors worldwide. While most focus on VR simulations with headsets and controllers, we combine virtual reality with robotic-assisted instruments and haptic technology to replicate the exact sensations of the operating room. We’re one of only two companies globally using this approach.”
VirtualiSurg initially considered both universities and hospitals as potential markets. However, the complexity of hospital ecosystems - with a wide variety of medical devices in use - made a one-size-fits-all approach impractical. Additionally, with universities and hospitals facing tight budgets, VirtualiSurg needed a strategy that fit the realities of the healthcare sector.
The global MedTech industry is valued at nearly $600 billion, with 5-13% attributed to training and marketing. VirtualiSurg chose to focus primarily on private-sector partnerships, working directly with medical device manufacturers to provide customized simulators for healthcare professionals and sales teams.
By offering simulators alongside medical devices, VirtualiSurg enables hospitals to adopt new technologies faster, creating a win-win situation for both manufacturers and healthcare institutions.
“For each surgical application, we create catalogs of the specific vocabulary, actions, and tools involved," he said. "It typically takes 4 to 6 months to develop a tailor-made solution. With each new project, we can reuse up to 50% of the code, speeding up development.”
Dr. Collaço added, “It’s like assembling a giant puzzle. We don’t start from scratch — we build on previous projects and, with generative AI, we can accelerate development and improve our training recommendations.”
Strategic Partnerships
VirtualiSurg has partnered with industry giants such as Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson Medtech, Terumo, AbbVie, and Dräger. A standout project, the Dräger Virtuo XR Babyleo, is a lifelike simulation for neonatal care, which was recently named a finalist for two prestigious awards by AIXR—the XR Healthcare Solution of the Year Award and the Obsidian Award in 2024.
In the coming months, the company hopes to establish public partnerships and rent out its XR training platform and hardware to hospitals, offering them the flexibility to train surgeons with their specific equipment.
