POSTED BY
Liz Moyles
This week, I miraculously managed to pin down Elliot Street , CEO , Inovus. Elliott is based less than 50km from me in the UK, but he is seldom there. Instead, he is out, selling the vision and espousing the benefits of Inovus and its surgical training technologies.
The company have been in the headlines a lot over the last 12 months; not least because of the sheer pace of activity which Elliott and the team work at. The team are focused on delivering solutions to improve clinician proficiency through improved access to healthcare simulation and training. They already have many clients and 2023 is looking like a promising year for the company. One to watch…
Just before boarding a plane, I managed to speak with Elliott, and this is what he had to say…
Elliot, how did you end up where you are today. Where did your passion for medical devices come from?
I’m a doctor myself and it was through my training and experience that I began to think about different ways of training medics. Quite early on, I realised that we needed to make a fundamental shift in the way we train surgeons; by driving the early learning curve into a simulated environment and away from the patient bedside. I realised that marrying my clinical expertise with a passion for business would be the best way to effect lasting change in surgical training. My passion is focused around building teams and systems technology that are problem focussed. Understanding the problem and bringing all the necessary elements together to solve this, is what really gets my juices flowing.
How does that translate into the day to day role - what makes you want to leap out of bed on a work day and get on with matters at hand?
People. I love our people at Inovus and I love working with the incredible people in our industry; from surgeons to medical device professionals, I am lucky to do a job that feels more like spending time with friends than working.
You clearly love the people you are working and dealing with – are there any aspects you’d pick out?
Our team do things on a daily basis that humble me. One that really does deserve to be given some limelight is the mind-boggling technology that our team have built. The complex interplay of hardware, software and the novel augmented reality environment they have created to deliver natural haptics for surgical training is spectacular. I am amazed by the team daily.
What exciting plans and future are you working towards next – what are your priorities?
Jordan [van Flute] and I are the founders of our company - our priority is to stay laser focussed on working towards our mission of becoming the world’s partner for surgical training. Everything we do must align to that mission.
How is the market receiving your solution?
We have a completely novel and paradigm shifting technology, which, to the credit of the industry, has been extremely well received and understood. From a market perspective, I am most proud of our partnership approach to deploying our technology; a great example being our recent partnership with AAGL, the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, to support the EMIGS (Essentials in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery) National training program across the USA. From an investment perspective, we are proud to have had Norgine Ventures join our journey - a brilliant team of incredibly intelligent people who ‘just get it’.
What opportunities do you see out there in the medical devices world to be more innovative in offering patients and surgeons / clinicians a more joined up solution?
We see Augmented Reality (AR) as the real watershed opportunity when it comes to surgical training. The reason being that AR can be used to create natural haptics and allows surgeons to operate with any surgical tool. This will be particularly important as the rate of innovation in surgery is increasing at breakneck speeds. These new innovations need a scalable ‘constant’ when it comes to learning how to use them safely (for example, the various surgical robotics platforms, human operated robotics etc.) and we see AR as the technology that can serve that need.
What advice would you give to someone who's looking to enter this space?
Just focus on doing three things really well:
1) Turn up with a great attitude
2) Hold yourself to the highest standards at all times
3) When it’s time to work, get after it with laser like focus
Do those three things day in, day out and the rest will take care of itself.
Finally, what song would get you jigging on the dance floor?
Mistress by Purple Disco Machine!
Thanks so much, Elliot, for sharing this – it has been a really interesting piece and I honestly can say from everything I know and see or hear about you, you truly live out your own advice for getting on and being a success!
2023 is going to be an even more phenomenal year for you at Inovus.
