Asia has, indeed, become the new hub for potential growth and innovation, with no signs of losing steam. To appreciate the Asian companies and individuals for their commendable performance and achievements during Calendar Year (CY) 2021, BioSpectrum Asia Excellence Awards 2022 ceremony was held at Lavender Ball Room, Hotel Fort Canning in Singapore on December 2, 2022, and Taiwan-based Brain Navi Biotechnology received Startup of the Year Award 2022- Special Jury Recognition.

Brain Navi Biotechnology, founded in 2015, is located in Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park in Taiwan. It is mainly focused on designing and developing medical devices that can assist surgeons during their medico-surgical interventions. The startup has to its credit the establishment of the first autonomous neurosurgical navigation robot NaoTrac. 

Surgeons can choose the surgery pathway with a 3D vision for precise anatomical location during the pre-operating planning preparation and monitor the robot during the entire procedure. The unique navigation procedure allows the surgeon to plan and let surgical navigation act as an assistant. This robotic technology is based on a SMART (Surface Mapping Auto-Registration Technology) platform, and is patented by Brain Navi Biotechnology. 

During the pandemic, the startup built an autonomous nasal swab collecting robot to help reduce staff-patient contact with highly infectious disease at the point of testing by autonomously navigating and safely collecting patient samples.

The Nasal Swab Robot is authorised by Taiwan FDA for COVID-19 related Manufacturing of Medical Device (similar to EUA) and CE mark in Class I according to the Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC.

At present, Brain Navi is developing a 3D disposable neuro-endoscope with a wide-angle surgical working channel for cranial surgery visualisations. Called KrystoLens, the tool is being designed for diagnosing therapeutic procedures like biopsies, cyst removal etc. The startup is planning to seek regulatory approvals in early 2023.

Image caption- L-R- Ravindra Boratkar, Publisher & Managing Editor, BioSpectrum Asia; Dr Dario Heymann, Chief Research Officer, Galen Growth; Dr Wallace Lin, Secretary General, Taiwan Bio Industry Organisation (receiving the award on behalf of Brain Navi Biotechnology)