'Advanced Surgical Technologies Should Not Be Limited to Metro Cities': How These Founders Built a Homegrown Surgical GPS

easyNav™ is a medical navigation system for use in operating theatres. It combines medical images with real-time instrument tracking. This helps surgeons understand their position while working inside the body. The idea matters because complex surgery can involve sensitive nerves, blood vessels, and other critical structures.

The comparison with GPS makes the system easier to understand. A phone’s GPS shows where a traveller is and helps them choose the next road. Similarly, easyNav™ uses a patient’s scans as an anatomical map. It then shows the surgical instruments’ location and trajectory against that map during the operation.

HRS Navigation designed easyNav™ as an indigenous alternative to imported platforms. The company says its systems are installed in more than 200 hospitals and have supported over 20,000 surgeries. Its goal is to combine demanding precision with practical use in Indian hospitals.

The system begins before surgery, when CT scans provide detailed images of the patient’s anatomy. Those images become a reference map for the procedure. This matters because a surgeon needs to understand not only the target, but also its relationship with nearby structures that must be preserved.

During the operation, easyNav™ tracks the position of surgical instruments in real time. It displays those positions in relation to the anatomy created from the scans. The surgeon can therefore compare the instrument’s location and trajectory with the planned route. This is especially useful when the target is deep inside the body or close to sensitive structures.

The navigation system does not replace the surgeon’s judgement. It adds another layer of information during the procedure. HRS Navigation designed easyNav™ to provide this precision while working with equipment that Indian hospitals already have, rather than requiring major infrastructure changes.

Surgical navigation supports procedures in which accurate orientation inside the body is important. The article specifically describes its use in brain and spine surgery. These operations may involve targets deep inside the body or areas close to nerves, blood vessels, and other critical structures. Navigation gives surgeons an additional anatomical reference while they work.

In the brain, the system can help a surgeon plan a route to a tumour. It also shows the tumour’s relationship with important structures. The mechanism combines CT-based anatomical images with real-time tracking of surgical instruments. This lets the surgeon compare the instrument’s position and trajectory with the mapped anatomy during the operation.

The article does not list every operation supported by the technology. It presents brain and spine surgery as key areas and gives brain-tumour surgery as a concrete example. HRS Navigation says its systems have supported more than 20,000 surgeries across hospitals using the technology.

HRS Navigation’s technology has moved beyond development and into clinical use. According to the company, its systems are now installed in more than 200 hospitals. This indicates adoption across a substantial network rather than use in only the startup’s own facilities.

The company also says the systems have supported over 20,000 surgeries. Those procedures used the navigation technology to help surgeons understand instrument position in relation to patient anatomy. The article connects this use especially with complex work around the brain, spine, nerves, blood vessels, and other critical structures.

These figures describe the company’s current reported reach. They also show the practical scale of an indigenous alternative to imported surgical-navigation platforms. HRS Navigation’s founders aimed to make advanced surgical support workable for Indian hospitals, including those facing limits on budgets and operating-theatre infrastructure.

Real-time anatomical guidance can improve a surgeon’s awareness during delicate procedures. It shows the instrument’s position and trajectory against the patient’s mapped anatomy. This matters when the target is deep inside the body or close to sensitive nerves, blood vessels, and other critical structures.

For example, in brain surgery, the system can help plan a route to a tumour and show its relationship with important structures. The surgeon can use the displayed information as an additional check while advancing instruments. It does not remove the need for surgical judgement, but it adds a reference that is difficult to obtain from direct view alone.

The article presents this guidance as a way to support precision and help preserve structures near the surgical target. HRS Navigation says its systems have supported over 20,000 surgeries. Their wider use could help more hospitals apply advanced navigation during complex procedures.

Many Indian hospitals found imported surgical-navigation systems difficult to adopt because the expense extended beyond buying the machine. Some systems required recurring consumables for every procedure. Others required hospitals to upgrade operating theatres to meet specific infrastructure requirements. These demands were especially difficult for hospitals working with limited budgets.

HRS Navigation designed easyNav™ around a different practical need. The system was developed to work with equipment hospitals already had, while maintaining accuracy. This approach responds to the infrastructure realities of Indian hospitals instead of simply reducing the purchase price of an imported platform. It aims to make the technology more sustainable for procedures involving patients who may not be able to pay much.

The company began building its technology from the ground up in 2015. Development involved research, engineering, testing, and regulatory compliance. Its stated priorities are precision that meets clinical requirements and adaptability that makes navigation practical for Indian hospitals.

Accurate anatomical mapping matters especially in brain and spine surgery because the target may lie deep inside the body or near structures that must be preserved. The article identifies nerves, blood vessels, and other critical structures as important concerns. Knowing their positions gives the surgeon a clearer reference during delicate work.

The system uses CT images to create that reference before surgery. During the operation, it tracks instruments and displays their positions against the mapped anatomy. In a brain-tumour procedure, for example, the surgeon can plan a route and understand the tumour’s relationship with important structures. This provides an additional check on direction and location.

The article does not quantify the effects of mapping on surgical outcomes. It explains its value as support for precision and informed navigation. That support is particularly relevant in brain and spine procedures, where complex anatomy makes accurate orientation essential to the planned route.