{"id":65365,"title":"Illuminant Surgical: A new way of seeing inside the human body","tagline":"Displaying images directly on the patient for safer, faster procedures","body":"**💡TL;DR**\n\n* We give doctors X-ray vision without the need for headsets or monitors.\n* It works in any operating room, requires zero wearables, and seamlessly integrates into existing workflows.\n* We're starting with spine surgery, pain management, and interventional radiology - 11M+ annual procedures in the U.S.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=65365\u0026key=user_uploads/636938/0a341696-1b40-4543-b52f-2cc145a6579f)\n\n**❌ The Problem: Patient Access Is Stuck In The 1800s**\n\nEvery year, hundreds of millions of procedures require precise access to internal anatomy. Whether placing a screw in the spine, inserting a needle for a biopsy, or advancing a catheter, precision is critical. Yet surgeons still rely on outdated tools: fluoroscopy, “feel”, and mental reconstruction, leading to inefficiencies, complications, and billions in unnecessary healthcare costs.\n\nThis has serious consequences:\n\n* For patients – misplaced implants, vascular injuries, and nerve damage result in repeat procedures, extended hospital stays, and life-altering complications.\n* For hospitals – preventable surgical revisions cost tens of billions annually in unnecessary expenses\n* For surgeons – Cumbersome tools and methods that extend case time, increase cognitive load, and limit the number of patients they can treat.\n\nSpine surgery and interventional access are two of the fastest-growing segments and also among the most accuracy-dependent.\n\nIn the US alone:\n\n* 1.6 M spine surgeries where millimeters can mean the difference between mobility and disability.\n* 9.5 M interventional procedures that rely on accurate percutaneous access to treat and diagnose hundreds of different conditions and diseases.\n\n**This is a $10B+ unmet need.**\n\n**🔎 Our Solution: See Inside The Patient in Real Time, Directly On The Body**\n\nWe’ve built a new way of seeing inside the human body: Skylight is the first real-time anatomical projection system built to solve the problems with patient access. Instead of forcing doctors to look away at a screen, Skylight projects anatomy directly onto the patient, like an AR display—but without headsets, wearables, or extra steps.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=65365\u0026key=user_uploads/636938/8f98ebe8-aa8b-44e5-aac5-1b03d5105bfd)\n\nTo make this happen, we’ve developed a novel method of tracking the patient with sub-millimeter accuracy and we’ve built this system to be universally compatible with industry-standard tools and scanners to allow adoption without changing workflow.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=65365\u0026key=user_uploads/636938/d4213fc6-0747-4211-8bc3-56a309fd14c9)\n\n**Just as fiber optics revolutionized how we do laparoscopy and minimally invasive surgeries, anatomical projection will become the new standard for patient access.**\n\n**Who We Are:**\n\nWe’re James and Eldrick, two Stanford engineers who first met as freshman dormmates and have now worked together for over a decade.\n\n💉James: MD, bioengineer, scientist, and medical device builder.\n\n⚙️ Eldrick: Experienced deep-tech founder. Built chips at Apple and led hardware-software teams at a lidar startup.\n\nWe’ve assembled a world-class team of engineers, clinicians, and medical device experts to solve tough problems at the intersection of medicine, computer vision, graphics, and hardware development.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=65365\u0026key=user_uploads/636938/f5a0197a-718d-45cf-b2bd-f71769312830)\n\n**We’re looking for:**\n\n🩺 Clinicians → If you do spine, pain management, or IR, let’s talk.\n\n🏥 Hospital Partners → Want to be at the forefront of procedural navigation? Reach out.\n\n📰 Media → We’re redefining how doctors see. Let’s get the word out.\n\nEmail us [founders@illuminant.ai](mailto:founders@illuminant.ai) 💡","slug":"H0H-illuminant-surgical-a-new-way-of-seeing-inside-the-human-body","created_at":"2022-08-15T12:19:47.391Z","updated_at":"2026-05-24T00:25:19.964Z","total_vote_count":95,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/H0H-illuminant-surgical-a-new-way-of-seeing-inside-the-human-body","share_image_url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/media/?type=post\u0026id=65365\u0026key=user_uploads/636938/8f98ebe8-aa8b-44e5-aac5-1b03d5105bfd","company":{"id":26806,"name":"Illuminant Surgical","slug":"illuminant-surgical","url":"https://www.illuminant.ai/","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7d849bf884b530749e2b233bf2099f94506fbd24.png","batch":"Summer 2022","industry":"Healthcare","tags":["Medical Robotics","Augmented Reality","Robotic Surgery","Medical Devices","Navigation"],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/26806"}}