Sainsbury and his team — which includes co-founder Rajiv Singal, chief of surgery at Toronto’s Michael Garron Hospital — began developing their simulator in 2016. Sainsbury had a background in film and gaming and was pursuing his PhD at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Singal is a urologic surgeon and had implemented the daVinci robotic surgical program at Michael Garron. When Singal watched Sainsbury demonstrate an early iteration of the system at a grad exhibition, he immediately saw the application for his field, and they went into business together. While simulation trainers were already being used in heart and brain surgery, there was nothing for urologic surgery, a relatively niche market but one whose procedures can be just as tricky. Sainsbury and Singal envisioned a future where students could learn techniques without the costs and risks of, say, using actual surgical facilities or working on cadavers; practising surgeons could hone or upgrade their skills; and, best of all, doctors could be trained, remotely, by clinicians anywhere in the world.
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