Osso VR is a clinically validated healthcare training and assessment platform. And the company’s immersive experiences offer a hands-on training environment that leads to real-world performance gains and improved outcomes. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Osso VR founder and Chief Strategy Officer Justin Barad to learn more about the company.
Justin Barad’s Background
What is Justin Barad’s background? Barad said:
“Growing up, I originally wanted to be a video game developer. In addition to playing probably too many games, I learned how to code and was able to secure internships at major developers like Activision (where I got my first game credit!).”
“A family health issue changed my trajectory, however, and I started to wonder if there was a way to use my passion for technology not necessarily for entertainment, but to help people with medical challenges. I studied biomedical engineering in college with the goal of creating new technology, but I didn’t know how to get started.”
“A mentor told me that if I wanted to invent something, I needed to know what the problem was first, and a great way to do that is to be a doctor. So that led me to go to medical school, and, ultimately, orthopedic surgery, where I experienced firsthand what I think is the biggest problem in healthcare today, how we train our healthcare providers. I got involved in virtual reality early on due to my continued passion for gaming and ultimately combined my two life passions to start Osso in 2016.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Barad reflected:
“That’s pretty hard to say. I have so many memories with the team over the years. Probably one of my most favorite, more recent memories was a big launch we did with a partner in the pharmaceutical space in Brazil. We had a large group of our team go out, and we spent a week introducing a VR training curriculum to thousands of physicians.”
“There was so much passion and engagement for what we had built. Some of the providers were literally in tears because they were so moved and excited by the vision and mission of what we were all trying to do together to improve patient care. We also had so much fun as a team working hard, being in a new country and eating way too many Pao de Quejos. We may have also filmed some TikTok dances in VR in our downtime but don’t tell anyone we did that.”
Core Products
Screenshot
What are the company’s core products and features? Barad explained:
“At Osso, we have a unique focus and expertise, including—but not limited to—near photorealistic and clinically accurate visuals, high-fidelity procedural and technical simulation, collaborative training, objective analytics and standalone/portable XR.”
“We try to ensure each of our features is what you would expect from a real-world experience. An example of this is Live Imaging, which includes fluoroscopy, ultrasound, and endoscopic procedures. The platform also has Advanced Coaching Tools, which allow for proficiency-based assessments while learning, whether that is perfecting the angle for an injection to get the best outcomes or selecting the right device size to match a template. Finally, and perhaps the most unique feature VR brings is Collaborative Training. Whether across the globe or an office apart, learners can gather in the virtual OR or patient suite to share best practices, run through procedures, and learn from one another. This removes the barriers to education across the globe. Our approach has proven to be effective as an effective learning tool in eight peer-reviewed, published independent validation studies.”
“Now, we leverage these features across several key areas within healthcare, tailoring the features and experiences depending on the use case. For example, Our Osso Enterprise offering, which creates custom XR experiences for healthcare companies, focuses primarily on our work with medical device and pharmaceutical partners.”
“Aside from our core offering, we’re always looking towards what’s next. In April, Osso launched its first consumer application on the Apple Vision Pro. It is our first foray into that platform, and we are excited to see where it goes from here.”
Challenges Faced
Have Barad and the team faced challenges in building the company? Barad acknowledged:
“The short answer is yes. Since we may not have enough time for the long answer, I’ll go with a medium one.”
“The XR space has had several highs and lows, with a big peak of hype and excitement driven by the pandemic and the need for more remote training options especially. Lined up with the XR dynamics, healthtech also had a big explosion of interest and hype.”
“Around 2022 we started to see a big pullback from health systems and the enterprise, and the explosion of generative AI in 2023 created further challenges. Across the XR space, many companies were forced to really drill into their core value and use cases and drive whatever efficiencies they could. Some companies haven’t survived the slowdown or have had to seek acquisitions at an inopportune time. The good news is that this has really driven a real maturation in the space.”
“Today, the market has been easing up significantly, and the generative AI fervor is tempering. Companies are realizing that while it’s important to leverage genAI and have a strategy, it is not a panacea for all gaps within an organization. I am beyond excited for the current period we’re in at Osso and across the XR space, as the value for the enterprise, providers, and patients is starting to be realized at a larger scale.”
Evolution Of OSSO’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Barad noted:
“When Osso first launched, I had to travel with a desktop computer that I would shove into an overhead bin on an airplane. Our only available module was a single tibia bone floating in space. To say that technology has progressed is an understatement.”
“Osso now runs on a headset that can fit in a small backpack without needing any computer, you can train with other people from anywhere in the world, and you can track your training progress from any smartphone or PC on over 300 modules across almost every specialty. One of our modules is a left atrial appendage occlusion procedure that involves freely manipulating a transesophageal ultrasound probe under x-ray guidance, interpreting the fully simulated ultrasound image, and then inserting a catheter into the right side of the heart, puncturing the atrial septum and placing an implant in the left atrial appendage. It feels like science fiction.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Barad cited:
“We’ve had many milestones of which we are very proud. Whether it’s some of our recent fundraising, like our Series C, seeing the team win major awards like the SXSW innovation award or major customer launches like what we shared above, there’s just so much you could point to as pivotal for the company.”
“As a mission-based company, though, there was a recent event that really had a major impact on the team and helped us double down on our efforts to try and bring Osso to more providers and patients. Dr. William Dugal developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome as a side effect of Covid-19. He has just finished residency and was faced with this devastating diagnosis that affected his family and also this passion to practice medicine he had been working towards his whole life. He reached out to Osso and we supplied him with a set of our curriculum that he used as part of his rehabilitation. His story is inspiring for anybody to listen to. Here is someone who has spent their whole life training to do something and then nearly lost his life and may not be able to get back to what he had sacrificed so much to be able to do.”
“I haven’t experienced anything remotely like this myself, but there was a period of time when I wasn’t sure if I would be able to practice medicine and run a startup, and so in particular, to a degree, I could empathize with how Dr. Dugal felt as I got the privilege to accompany him on this journey. Continuing to talk with him and watching how our product supported him and allowed him to practice his surgical skills was beyond inspiring. I hope one day to embody the amount of grit and perseverance he demonstrated, and I also was so touched by his family and their support. Today he is back to taking care of patients and doing what he always loved, and I can’t believe that our technology had a small hand in that story.”
Funding
When asking Barad about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“Since its founding, Osso has raised $109 million in several rounds of fundraising. We are backed by several top-tier funds, including Oak HC/FT, GSR Ventures, Signalfire and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. Working with the leading funds in health technology has been an incredible privilege and has helped position Osso as the largest XR procedural training company in the world.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Barad assessed:
“The market for training in healthcare is beyond massive. One of my mentors and Osso advisor Dr. Tom Krummel, chair emeritus of surgery at Stanford, once told me he believes that training may account for up to 10% of all healthcare expenditures. Now you can subdivide that into several different areas as we look at spaces like the medical device and pharmaceutical markets, health systems, home healthcare, graduate medical education and more. Focusing on these target markets and taking a stepwise approach to attack this large problem (and opportunity) is how we believe we can build a large business that provides lasting value to global healthcare delivery.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Barad affirmed:
“Osso differentiates from our competition in XR procedural training in several key ways. As mentioned above, we have a unique focus and specialization in standalone VR. There are several key challenges to getting highly advanced procedural simulations to work on platforms like Quest 2 and Quest 3, and our focus and years of technical development have led to an unparalleled experience in terms of visual fidelity, simulation complexity, and smoothness/performance.”
“Since this space is still relatively new, everyone approaches simulation differently, yet not everyone actually tests to see if their approach actually works. Osso’s simulation methodology has been validated and proven in 8 peer-reviewed studies performed at academic medical centers. One study performed at UCLA showed that training with Osso improved performance scores by 10 points (17.5 vs. 7.5) as measured by the Global Rating Scale.”
“Another area of differentiation is around our deployment experience. We are training thousands of healthcare professionals every month and our team has expertise on how to set up, roll out, and measure XR training programs and make sure that they are holistically integrated with other learning modalities and the overall learning journey.”
“I’d finally say our scale stands out. We have over 300 training modules deployed in nearly 50 countries around the world. As the leader in the space, there’s nothing we haven’t seen or done at this point that we’re not ready to tackle to ensure that every patient has access to the very best care.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Barad concluded:
“Osso’s mission is to democratize access to training and improve patient outcomes. We are always looking to tie our goals to whatever will best advance that mission.”
“While we continue to find areas within the medical device space to accelerate access to life-improving and life-saving technologies, we are also finding new, incredibly exciting opportunities. Within the pharmaceutical space, we have been working on specific therapeutics to accelerate time to market and patient access to groundbreaking drugs.”
“On the health system side, we have been seeing rapid engagement with frontline hospital staff to train on critical procedures at scale, driving outcomes and improving their confidence and quality of life. A major area we are also working with health systems is around low-frequency, high-urgency situations. As providers, we want to make sure we are ready for anything, even if those events are relatively rare.”
“Once again, as we discussed earlier, there’s really no limit to what this technology can do or where it can be applied, which is actually part of the challenge. We believe that focusing on these key use cases and markets in a disciplined, step-wise way will lead to a world where patients can confidently know that they will be getting safe, consistent and optimal care no matter who they are or where they are.”
