Shane Farritor's medical device company gets $18 million investment

Virtual Incision -- a company co-founded by Shane Farritor, professor of mechanical and materials engineering -- has raised $18 million in venture-capital investments for the miniature surgical robot it has developed.

The company, now located on Nebraska Innovation Campus, will use the financing to support its premarket notification submission to the US Food and Drug Administration for its next-generation miniaturized robotically assisted surgical device. The device enables physicians to perform less-invasive general surgeries, especially abdominal procedures, that are usually performed with large, open incisions.