Blue Arbor Technologies raised US$10.5 million in a Series A round led by Ottobock. The company develops neuromuscular interfaces and prosthetic control systems. The funds will support the RESTORE Neuromuscular Interface System.
Funding plans
The company will complete feasibility testing for the RESTORE External Sensing Unit. It also plans to seek an FDA Investigational Device Exemption for U.S. clinical studies. Blue Arbor will start developing the implantable Internal Sensing Unit in parallel.
Company context
Ottobock is Blue Arbor's strategic partner and a global prosthetic leader. Blue Arbor is a privately held medical device company based in Grass Lake, Michigan. It focuses on robotic control for people with limb loss.
The RESTORE system
The RESTORE system aims to allow independent control of the fingers, wrist, and elbow. It has external and fully implantable versions. A second-in-human procedure using the external unit was completed at the Medical University of Vienna.
The system received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation. It also joined the FDA's Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program Pilot. RESTORE will support a University of Michigan study comparing surface and implanted electrodes.