Inovus Medical is a designer and manufacturer of surgical training technologies. Based in St. Helens, United Kingdom, the company was founded in 2012 with a clear purpose – to improve surgical care through connected training. According to the company, at the heart of everything Inovus does are a set of established core values of affordable, accessible, and functional technologies. With this in mind, Inovus Medical plans to become the world’s partner for surgical training.
All company products are developed to ensure that clinicians across the globe have access to the highest quality simulators at the best price. Products can be broken down into six categories: laparoscopic simulators, hysteroscopy simulators, accessories, basic surgical skills, sellic Cricoid pressure trainers, and SmartManCPR manikins. An added benefit for users, all Inovus simulators can be wiped clean with warm water and soap, no specific cleaning products are necessary.
Inovus Medical understands there is a spectrum of needs for diverse skills training solutions, and one size does not fit all. Whether a healthcare simulation educator is looking for a personal box trainer to practice basic skills at home or they are looking to kit out their simulation center with high-fidelity systems, the company offers solutions to meet these needs. Proving the company’s success in surgical training, Inovus Medical was awarded accreditation by the Royal College of Surgeons for England.
Inovus Simulator Product Examples
pyxus HD: The pyxus HD is ideally suited to surgical trainees looking to work on their laparoscopic skills at home or on the move, the flat pack nature makes it highly portable, fitting in perfectly with the busy lifestyle of the training surgeon. The pyxus HD consists of a four-piece high-grade composite shell casing. The silicone skin is held in place with a bracket and allows for the insertion of the Inovus dummy trocars. The fixed internal camera provides a clear, HD image once attached to a laptop or PC. The integrated light source in the camera provides direct illumination of the operative field and is a unique feature of the pyxus HD and pyxus HD Move, not seen in other box trainer models.
LapAR: The take-home version of the LapAR serves an emerging demand for distance learning in laparoscopic simulation. The simulator allows the user to perform simulated full surgical procedures as well as basic skills tasks by connecting the simulator to their PC or laptop. Performance data is captured and displayed in the online portfolio and can be downloaded and added to surgical training portfolios and logbooks. The product provides close-to-life haptic feedback through synthetic soft tissue models and has realistic digital anatomy fully integrated with soft tissue models.
HystAR: The HystAR offers educational institutions and device companies the opportunity to deliver high fidelity, fully tracked hysteroscopy simulation at a scale never before possible. The sleek, compact trolley system meets all hysteroscopy training requirements from delivering basic, intermediate, and advanced hysteroscopy skills courses in simulation centers through to pre-operative warm-up in the clinical setting. Unlimited user licenses mean there is no limit to the number of surgeons that can be trained with HystAR.
sellick Cricoid Pressure Trainer: sellick is the cricoid pressure trainer that allows healthcare professionals to learn, practice, retain and reproduce the correct technique for effective cricoid pressures. sellick gives real-time feedback on cricoid pressures allowing training clinicians to repeatedly perform the ‘Sellick’s Manoeuvre’ until they develop muscle memory for the correct pressure required in this procedure. Repeated practice in a simulated environment allows clinicians to perform this technique with confidence when in a clinical environment.
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SmartMan BLS: The SmartMan BLS is the perfect tool for high-volume BLS training, especially useful for hospital trusts and universities that have high numbers of trainees to put through BLS training with limited time and financial resources. The software provides easy-to-understand color-coded feedback meaning trainees and students can perform objectively assessed BLS practice without the need for a resuscitation officer to guide them.
Inovus Company History
In 2012, co-founders Elliot (the medic) and Jordan (the engineer) saw an opportunity to improve surgical care through connected surgical training. Their first ‘take home’ laparoscopic simulator (pyxus) was designed and launched from their University bedrooms. Then, in 2013, the operation moved out of the bedroom and into the garage. There, the first institutional laparoscopic simulator (pyxus Pro) was launched creating a hub and spoke offering. This year, the first institutional installation at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan UK also took place.
Next, in 2014 the company’s first international sale was made, and manufacturing was upscaled and moved to new premises in St Helens. Ultimately, over 20 NHS Trusts were supplied that year. Two years later in 2016, Elliot and Jordan left their roles in medicine and pharmaceuticals to run the growing company full-time. This led to the launch of the Basic Surgical Skills range, and 3D printing was added to the manufacturing processes.
Over the course of the next four years, other major company milestones were reached. For example, the company moved to current Global headquarters and manufacturing facility in St Helens, UK, the laparoscopic portfolio increased to four to meet the increasing needs of the training spectrum, and Inovus began exporting to 40+ countries.
During this time, bozzini hysteroscopy simulators were launched, production-level 3D printing was introduced to manufacturing, and external investment was secured to support commercial expansion. The UK commercial team was also introduced to support the growing domestic market. Other accomplishments included:
- SBRI Healthcare funding was secured to develop digital technologies for surgical training.
- Software engineering and materials specialists were added to the R&D team.
- bozzini laparoscopic launched.
- LapAR high fidelity laparoscopic simulators launched.
- Laparoscopic portfolio increased to six, covering the full spectrum of laparoscopic simulation needs from low to high fidelity.
- Innovate UK funding was secured to add digital technologies to other surgical simulators.
Most recently in 2022, Inovus Medical’s HystAR, the third hysteroscopy simulator in the Inovus portfolio, was launched at IMSH, Los Angeles simulators.
