Robotic colonoscope insertion device to improve procedure productivity and reduce physician injuries

Speaker:

Hrishikesh Deo
Founder and CEO 
Ergami Endoscopy

Abstract

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US, with over 50,000 deaths each year in the US (12% of total cancer deaths). Colonoscopy is the most effective procedure for diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer, and over 20 million colonoscopies are performed each year in the US. Screening age reduction from 50 to 45 years and a severe shortage of gastroenterologists have created a significant colonoscopy backlog. There is an urgent need for drastic productivity improvements, as delayed screening leads to increased cancer mortality. Looping during scope insertion causes significant challenges in colonoscopy including patient pain and the need for sedation; endoscopy related injuries in endoscopists and nurses; and prolonged and variable insertion time. Ergami Endoscopy has developed a novel low cost robotic colonoscope insertion solution to improve procedure productivity; reduce patient pain and need for sedation; and reduce endoscopy-related injuries in endoscopists and nurses.

Biosketch

Dr. Hrishikesh Deo received a B.Tech. in mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay and Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has over 25 years of R&D and Innovation experience at MIT, GE Global Research, and Pentax Medical. He has 12 years of experience in GI endoscopy, in in the areas of R&D, Product Development, Strategy and Business Development. As Senior Director (Technology Development) at Pentax Medical, Dr. Deo started an upstream innovation R&D group in Cambridge, MA focused on identifying unmet needs and delivering innovations in the area of flexible GI endoscopy. He took on roles of increasing responsibility, and most recently, was Vice President (Strategy and Business Development) at Pentax Medical. In August 2022, Dr. Deo started Ergami Endoscopy, as Founder and CEO, to develop a flexible endoscopic robotics solution to improve procedure productivity; reduce patient pain and need for sedation; and reduce endoscopy-related injuries in endoscopists and nurses.  

Ergami Endoscopy is based in Brooklyn (less than two miles from NYU Tandon). Ergami Endoscopy is supported by NYU Tandon’s Future Labs Catalyst NYC accelerator program. Dr. Deo will talk about his experiences as a founder of a medical device company and his experience with NYU Tandon’s Future labs.