A Columbia, Missouri–based biomedical company recently announced it was awarded $2.25 million in seed funding for a service that could revolutionize surgical training.
Maximum Fidelity Surgical Simulations uses a proprietary process that provides lifelike cadavers to create incredibly realistic surgical simulations that aren’t replicable using traditional human cadavers. The technology helps train medical students in research and product development, while allowing military doctors to practice their surgical skills on traumatic injuries.
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“It has a pulse, it bleeds, it has the same tactile feel as a living person,” MaxFi CEO Bob Mills says. “We use it to help surgeons become better surgeons and train medics to save soldiers who have been wounded in the field.”
Founded in 2014 by Dr. Joss Fernandez, MaxFi uses a patented cadaver perfusion system that makes its cadavers bleed, breathe, and handle like live patients. MaxFi’s process cleans out a cadaver’s circulatory system and inserts tubes into particular parts of the body. It connects these tubes to a pump in the company’s reservoir system, which restores the circulatory system using a proprietary product. The result is a dead body that’s remarkably lifelike, which differs significantly from how cadavers traditionally handle.
“No matter what type of training—product development, training on a medical device, plastic surgery, you name it—they feel like they’re working on a live human,” Mills said. “It’s beyond their belief.”
Seed funding from St. Louis Arch Angels, BioGenerator Ventures, and the Missouri Technology Corporation will help MaxFi build a laboratory in St. Louis, where the company’s researchers will develop new medical devices and maintain a surgical simulation center. MaxFi is also using a portion of the funding to hire five full-time staffers in St. Louis.
Though research and development will stay in Columbia—that’s where Fernandez lives—the planned facility will serve as MaxFi’s primary operations node. It will include state-of-the-art labs, meeting spaces, lecture rooms, and more. Once it is completed, the building will be one of the only such training facilities in the world.
“We don’t have a signed lease yet, but we’re zeroing in on the Westport area due to its proximity to the airport and hotels nearby,” Mills said.
Pricing differs based on the training, but Mills and his colleagues see MaxFi as offering a tailored service, and not merely a one-size-fits-all product. That said, simulations can range from $17,000 to $20,000.
“It depends on what they’re trying to achieve with their simulation,” Mills said. “If it’s military training, they’re looking for trauma, so it’s not as technical as a surgeon training for a new heart device.”
The team at MaxFi sees the company as more than just a profit-generating enterprise. The key to success in the long run is to expand understanding, train better surgeons, and develop better medical devices, all of which contribute to better outcomes for patients.
“It will do so much good for the medical community and our military,” Mills said. “Dr. Fernandez was so passionate about helping his colleagues improve their skills. It’s helped them tremendously.”
