Riverfield

About Riverfield

Riverfield is a Japanese medical technology company established in 2014 as a venture from Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The founders include Kenji Kawashima, Daisuke Haraguchi, Kotaro Tadano, Junichi Sakata, and Kagawa Toshiharu. The current CEO is Kotaro Tadano. The company originated from research on pneumatically driven surgical robots that began in 2003, aiming to commercialize the findings. Riverfield develops, manufactures, and sells surgical-support robots and other medical devices.

The company's flagship product is the Saroa Surgical System, which is recognized as the world's first minimally invasive surgical robot to successfully reproduce the sense of force, also known as haptic or kinesthetic feedback. This is achieved through a pneumatic control system that provides force feedback without a force sensor, allowing surgeons to feel the texture and resistance of tissue as if operating with their own hands. This technology aims to enhance surgical precision and safety. The Saroa system is also designed to be lightweight, compact, and less expensive than competing systems. It received manufacturing and marketing approval in Japan in May 2023 and was used in its first surgery in July 2023. Other products include the EMARO endoscope manipulator, the OQrimo ophthalmic surgical assist robot, and IvyA1.

Riverfield operates on a business model of research, development, and sales of its medical devices. The company has secured significant funding over several rounds from investors including JAFCO Group, Toray Engineering, SBI Investment, Dai-ichi Life, and Medipal Holdings. By September 2021, the company had raised a total of approximately $43.1 million. The company's strategy involves creating more affordable and space-efficient robotic systems compared to market incumbents. For instance, the Saroa system uses a standard flat-panel display instead of an immersive monitor, which facilitates better communication among the surgical team.