The Operating Room of the Future, Hellstern Medical

Founder Sabrina Hellstern and co-founder Claudia Sodha built NOAC after surgeons came to them with a problem: eight to ten hour surgeries take a real physical toll, with 75 percent of surgeons developing musculoskeletal disorders and 40 percent relying on painkillers to keep performing. Professor Martin Schumann, consultant neurosurgeon at University Hospital Tuebingen, was part of the team that shaped the device from the ground up, testing and refining every movement in the OR until it matched what surgeons actually needed. The result is a robotic surgeon assist built on Mecanum wheels and position sensors, letting surgeons shift between sitting and standing without breaking form or losing focus mid-procedure. NOAC is Hellstern Medical's first step toward what they call the OR of the future, using robotics to address a shrinking surgeon pipeline while keeping surgeons at their best for the patients who need them.