Intuitive Surgical is to acquire something called shape-sensing technology from its developer, Luna Innovations Inc.
Background
Luna Innovations will receive $12 million up front in two tranches and up to an additional $18 million upon certain technical milestones and commercial measures. For that, Intuitive will get Luna’s fiber optic shape-sensing and localization technology, including related patents, and hire a number of engineering employees formerly utilized in Luna’s medical shape-sensing business.
There’s not a lot of detail in the press release about what the technology does, let alone how it works, but the fit between the automated identification of physical shapes and a company that is a leader in robotic surgical device technology is pretty clear.
Company comments
for Luna Innovations
“Luna develops technological solutions to problems that others cannot solve, and this is yet another successful example of how our technology ultimately reaches the market, in this case with a long-time development partner,” said Luna President and CEO My Chung. “This sale is the culmination of the shape-sensing development we’ve done over the past several years for potentially integrating into Intuitive’s future products.”
for Intuitive
“We look forward to working with Luna on a smooth transition,” said David Larkin, Intuitive’s Vice President of Engineering. “We are excited about the team joining Intuitive and the possibilities around this technology.”
Source: Luna Innovations, Inc., Business Wire
published: January 23, 2014 in: General Surgery, Gynaecology/Obstetrics, Mergers and Acquisitions