Founders at Work: Myka Labs
From Fetal Surgery to Transformer-Based AI: The Next Frontier of Minimally Invasive Intervention
Despite advances in robotic laparoscopy, intraoperative morbidity in abdominal surgery remains stubbornly high. While modern endoscopes offer a less invasive route to manipulate tissue, their true clinical impact is bottlenecked by the limitations of conventional intraoperative imaging like cameras, ultrasound and x-ray.
At Myka Labs, our mission is to solve this visualization deficit. Built around high-performance edge computing and new "smart" catheter technology developed in our lab, Myka's Glint system integrates seamlessly with the scopes, towers and c-arms that are the workhorses of endoluminal surgery. Glint delivers vivid, real-time spatial depictions of anatomy and instruments accompanied by powerful analytics, empowering highly trained surgery teams to achieve markedly better patient outcomes than would be imaginable with conventional intraoperative imaging.
In this multimedia-heavy session, pioneering pediatric/fetal surgeon Dr. Mike Harrison and engineer-turned-executive Dan Laser will go deep into the clinical science and computational engineering driving the future of endoluminal surgery.
Topics covered will include:
The AI and Sensor Architectures: Dan Laser will detail how transformer-based deep learning models and multimodality are deployed to let surgery teams "see" the movement of anatomy and tools deep within a patient's body--no incisions in the abdominal wall needed.
Tissue Healing & Fibrosis: Dr. Harrison will discuss the inspiration and execution of his in vivo studies on neoepithelization and fibrosis in hollow viscera and the vasculature—the biological foundation of many new, high-impact abdominal procedures in which Glint is designed to be used.
The Origins of Fetal Intervention: Dr. Harrison will also describe how he came to realize, early in his career, that surgical intervention before birth was essential to improving outcomes in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), and how this led to his leading the teams that performed the first-ever open fetal surgeries, right here at UCSF.
Speaker Bio
Dan Laser is President and CEO of Myka Labs. Dan got his start in the biomedical field developing prototype haptic feedback subsystems for a U.S. Army-funded surgical robotics initiative while studying mechanical engineering as an undergraduate at Northwestern. He went on to earn his Ph.D., also in mechanical engineering, from Stanford. With the 9/11 attacks occurring partway through his PhD work, Dan spent a year as a MacArthur Affiliate at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, focusing on biothreat mitigation and working closely with former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry. After graduate school, Dan founded Wave 80 Biosciences and established the company as a leader in the field of microfluidics-based biological assays. Dan led a Wave 80 team of experts in wide-ranging engineering and scientific fields in performing cutting-edge bioassay research for customers ranging from the U.S. Defense Department to next-generation sequencing companies. Dan then went on to serve as CEO at Avvio, a company founded by Dr. Robert Grubbs, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Avvio pioneered an innovative combination of lipid nanoparticle technology with alendronate chemistry as the basis for novel treatments for diseases associated with biomineralization. At Avvio, Dan raised $14 million in venture capital and led the company through two successful clinical studies treating some seventy patients before transitioning out in order to join Michael Harrison and Lee Swanstrom as the core leadership team at Myka Labs.
About Founders at Work:
This monthly seminar series alternates between our San Francisco and San Carlos locations and showcases a distinguished current resident or alumnus from our community. These sessions are designed to provide early-stage founders with real-world advice, practical strategies, and inspiring stories from those who’ve navigated the entrepreneurial journey successfully.
This event is open to the public. Please be sure to register to reserve your spot!