World-first AI-powered orthopaedic surgery software start-up wins big at the 2023 Hi-Tech Awards 

Formus Labs, winner of the Duncan Cotterill Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Solution and winner of the Soul Machines Most Innovative Deep Tech Solution at the 2023 Hi-Tech Awards

26 June 2023

Double honours are flowing for Formus Labs as the start-up led by Thor Bessier, an alumnus of the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), snatched two prestigious titles at the 2023 NZ Hi-Tech Awards. 

Formus Labs has been recognised twice over for its outstanding innovation, contribution, and success as winner of the Duncan Cotterill Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Solution and winner of the Soul Machines Most Innovative Deep Tech Solution. 

The company, co-founded in 2016 by Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland Professor Thor Besier and alumnus and bioengineer Dr Ju Zhang, developed the world’s first AI-powered orthopaedic surgery software.  

Formus Labs’ software combines medical imaging data with biomechanical simulation to optimise implant selection and placement for an individual patient. It automatically creates a 3D model of a patient’s joint, then selects and places implants that restore the native biomechanics. Surgeons can then interact with the 3D model to adjust plans according to their own expertise and preferences.  

The software is the market frontrunner, offering a completely automated workflow that saves surgeons time, enables scalability and will make pre-operative planning easier, less intrusive, and more personalised. 

Professor Besier says current ‘templating’ solutions for planning orthopaedic surgeries rely on 2D X-rays and manual manipulation by surgeons to determine an appropriately sized implant. However, joint replacement surgeries involve 3D geometry, and existing planning software does not account for the biomechanics of the joint.  

“Our software improves patient outcomes by selecting implants that best match the anatomy and biomechanics of an individual from the get-go.” 

Formus Labs harnesses the expertise and research done over years by Professor Besier and his team at Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) into the mechanisms of musculoskeletal systems, injury and disease, and research that combines medical imaging with computational modelling. Their software concept and intellectual property draws from Zhang’s PhD and postdoctoral research at ABI, in which he was supervised by Professor Thor Besier. 

Entrepreneurial experience is another component that has driven the emergence of the rising star. In 2013, Besier entered CIE’s Velocity (then, Spark) $100k Challenge. His wearable sensor company developed through ABI, IMeasureU, won the competition and got Besier and co-founder Mark Finch a spot in an incubation programme run by the Icehouse. In 2017, IMeasureU was acquired by VICON, a global leader in motion capture technology, and they continued to expand in the international sports market with a focus on load-monitoring solutions for NBA athletes. Mark Finch is now the CTO of VICON. 

Formus Labs recently launched their hip planner in Australia and have already delivered over 700 surgical plans via their channel partner, ZimmerBiomet. In February 2022, the company raised USD$5m in a round led by GD1, with participation from Punakaiki Fund, Icehouse Ventures, Pacific Channel, and Flying Kiwis. In May 2023, they received FDA clearance that will enable them to reach the US market by the end of 2023, and they have plans to become the global leader in hip replacement pre-operative planning within the next two years. 

In 2022 CIE alumni featured among the Hi-Tech Awards winners and finalists included sign language avatar venture Kara Technologies, retail crime intelligence and loss prevention platform Auror, hand motion capture solution StretchSense and winner of three categories, Alimetry, who have develop advanced clinical solutions for investigating gastric disorders. 

In addition to the success recognised at the Hi-Tech Awards, Formus Labs and Alimetry were also recently named as two of the 16 companies in Callaghan Innovations’ new Sir Callaghan Innovation 100 report. The companies featured have shown breakthrough innovation and are creating new pathways in their respective industries with pivotal contributions from Callaghan Innovation.  

CIE Director Darsel Keane says “It’s always a thrill to see our alumni featured in the Hi-Tech Awards. We are so proud of our alumni both for their personal achievements and for what this means to New Zealand. At CIE we strive to help develop the potential in those who will lead New Zealand to better prosperity, and new technologies such as those developed by Formus Labs are so important for our country’s economic and social wellbeing.”