Farritor's surgical robot readied for space station test in 2024

A miniaturized surgical robot invented by Shane Farritor, the David and Nancy Lederer Professor of Engineering and chief technology officer of Virtual Incision, is being prepped for testing aboard the International Space Station.

NASA recently awarded Farritor a $100,000 grant through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to ready the robot for a 2024 test mission aboard the International Space Station.

"NASA has been a long-term supporter of this research and, as a culmination of that effort, our robot will have a chance to fly on the International Space Station," said Farritor, professor of engineering.

Farritor is co-founder of Virtual Incision, a startup company based on Nebraska Innovation Campus. For nearly 20 years, he and his colleagues have been developing the tiny surgical robot known as MIRA, short for "miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant." The company has attracted more than $100 million in venture capital investment since its founding in 2006.