Biomedical Engineer · Inventor · Surgical Robotics · Software

Micah Forstein

Nearly three decades building medical technology across surgical robotics, orthopedic systems, medical imaging, software, instrumentation, design controls and product development.

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18U.S. patent grants identified

37U.S. published applications indexed

9technical publications listed

30+years across biomedical engineering

Professional focus

Engineering that connects the clinical problem to the released product.

I have worked across the full medical-device development chain: clinical needs, mechanical and software design, surgical planning, robotics, imaging, CAD/CAM, risk management, verification and validation, design history files, partner integrations and technical leadership.

My work has ranged from a patented video pedobarograph and early orthopedic robotics to implant-planning software, robotic cutting methods, orthopedic instrumentation, quality-system development and modern cross-platform software.

Selected accomplishments

A career built around difficult technical problems.

1988

University of Minnesota

Intaglio Printing Press

Early engineering project highlighted in the career presentation.

1989–1990

Newington Children's Hospital

Orthopedic Rehabilitation Internship

Engineering and maintenance on the world's first 3D pediatric gait lab, specializing in biomechanics data collection and analysis for cerebral palsy surgical care — carried out alongside the RPI master's degree. The lab moved to Hartford Hospital when Newington closed.

Newington Children's Hospital slide — The world's first 3D pediatric gait lab, and the start of a thread — gait analysis, orthopedics, instrumentation — that runs through the next thirty years of this list.

1989–1993

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Slip Detection System — Master’s Thesis

Graduate biomedical engineering work on sensing and slip detection.

Slip detection system thesis slide — Master's thesis in biomedical engineering: instrumentation, signal conditioning and a prosthetic-hand test rig built to detect the moment a grasped object begins to slip. The apparatus, electronics and analysis were all built in-house.

1990–1998

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Motion Analysis Laboratory & Video Pedobarograph

Developed clinical/research hardware and software for gait and plantar-pressure analysis; work led to publications and a U.S. patent.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles gait lab slide — Designed and oversaw construction of the motion analysis laboratory that opened in 1992 — the only accredited gait lab in Southern California built for children, and the West Coast's first mobile pediatric gait lab. The work produced four peer-reviewed publications on foot orthoses, segment-based interpolation and video pedobarography, plus a U.S. patent.

1998–2003

Integrated Surgical Systems

ROBODOC Implant Lines

Developed implant support, software and CAD/CAM surgical toolpaths for an early FDA-cleared orthopedic robotic platform.

2003–2007

Zimmer

Universal Locking System

Led product-development work on orthopedic trauma instrumentation and locking-plate technology.

2007–2012

Fujifilm Medical

SDS & API Automation

Developed medical-image analysis and surgical-planning technology.

Fujifilm SDS and API automation slide — Orthopedic workstation design at Fujifilm, plus a SolidWorks API automation layer that generated clinical content directly from manufacturing data — removing a hand-transcription step between engineering and the documentation that has to match it.

2013–2025

THINK Surgical

Surgical Robotics, TPLAN, TMINI & 3D Printing

Engineering leadership and regulated product development across surgical robotics, planning, implant support and advanced manufacturing.

THINK Surgical slide — Twelve years across implant groups, cup and TKA projects, cutter-drive improvement, TPLAN and new product development — including TMINI taken from concept to commercial release, TMAX from feasibility to completion, and a 3D printing lab running TSolution 100, 200 and 300.

2016

Smithsonian Institution

ROBODOC Induction

ROBODOC was inducted into the Smithsonian's collection as the first robotic system to perform orthopedic surgery on a human — recognition for a platform whose implant lines, toolpaths and support work are covered earlier in this timeline.

2025–2026

Redefine Surgery

Engineering Assurance

Requirements, design controls, risk management, V&V strategy and quality-system development for a novel osteotomy platform.

2024–Present

Author & Independent Developer

Books and Chainmail Studio

Published fiction and built a cross-platform 3D design product spanning web, iOS and Android.

Skills & technology

What the work actually required.

Thirty years of medical device work leaves a specific residue: regulatory frameworks you have lived inside, languages picked up because a problem needed them, and CAD that has to survive a machinist and an auditor.

Medical device & regulatory

ISO 13485, 21 CFR Part 820 — 70+ design controls and FDA submissions
Risk management under FMEA and ISO 14971
Surgical robotics: TPLAN integration that reduced Cuvis system failures by 42%
Biomechanics: pediatric gait analysis system design (US-5722287-A)

Intellectual property

15 granted patents in orthopedics
Full cycle, from drafting through prior-art analysis

3D modelling & manufacturing

SolidWorks — advanced surfacing and simulation, behind 13 of the patents
Siemens NX — CAM programming, generative design for surgical guides
Autodesk PowerMill — 5-axis toolpaths for robotic bone resection

Software

C++ — object-oriented, memory management, STL, GCC/Clang/GDB
Java — multithreading, JVM optimization, Spring/JEE
Python — data analysis (NumPy, Pandas), web frameworks (Django, Flask)

Project management

Jira (Agile boards, workflows) and Confluence
Hybrid Scrum/Waterfall approach for robotic surgical projects
Budget management — Excel (NPV, IRR, scenario modelling)

Intellectual property

Patents & published patent applications

This searchable index currently covers U.S. records located under Micah Forstein, Micah Aaron Forstein and Micah A. Forstein, plus a verified European family member.

Representative drawing from US 12,678,261

Grant2026

System and method for detecting a potential collision between a bone and an end-effector

US 12,678,261

CUREXO, INC.

Micah Forstein

Engineering that connects the clinical problem to the released product.

A career built around difficult technical problems.

Intaglio Printing Press

Orthopedic Rehabilitation Internship

Slip Detection System — Master’s Thesis

Motion Analysis Laboratory & Video Pedobarograph

ROBODOC Implant Lines

Universal Locking System

SDS & API Automation

Surgical Robotics, TPLAN, TMINI & 3D Printing

ROBODOC Induction

Engineering Assurance

Books and Chainmail Studio

What the work actually required.

Medical device & regulatory

Intellectual property

3D modelling & manufacturing

Software

Project management

Patents & published patent applications

System and method for detecting a potential collision between a bone and an end-effector

System and method for operating a surgical robot

System and method for aligning a tool with an axis to perform a medical procedure

Surgical article formed from fine grained tungsten carbide in nickel matrix

Method of controlling instrumentation depth in total joint arthroplasty

Method to determine bone placement in a robot workspace

Method of controlling instrumentation depth in total joint arthroplasty

Method of controlling instrumentation depth in total joint arthroplasty

System and method to improve surgical cutting in the presence of surgical debris

Robot specific implant designs with contingent manual instrumentation

Acoustic analyzation of bone quality during orthopedic surgery

Intraoperative adjustment of a pre-operatively planned implant cavity to improve implant fit

Image and laser guided control of cutting using a robotic surgical system

Method and system for surgical modeling

Method and system for surgical planning

Method and system for surgical modeling

Method and system for surgical planning

Video pedobarograph system

System and method for aligning a tool with an axis to perform a medical procedure

Use of bone motion and cutting force feedback during robotic surgery to improve robotic cutting

Surgical article formed from fine grained tungsten carbide in nickel matrix

Surgical system and method for forming less than all bone cut surfaces for implant placement

System and method for detecting a potential collision between a bone and an end-effector

Method of controlling instrumentation depth in total joint arthroplasty

System and method to align an implant keel punch

Method of controlling instrumentation depth in total joint arthroplasty

System and method for aligning a tool with an axis to perform a medical procedure

Robot specific implant designs with contingent manual instrumentation

Surgical article formed from fine grained tungsten carbide in nickel matrix

Force based digitization for bone registration

Stabilization of bone positions during total joint arthroplasty

Bone registration in two-stage orthopedic revision procedures

Method to determine optimal bone placement to improve robotic cutting

System and method to improve surgical cutting in the presence of surgical debris

Robot specific implant designs with contingent manual instrumentation

Interactive anatomical positioner and a robotic system therewith

Use of bone motion and cutting force feedback during robotic surgery to improve robotic cutting

Method of controlling instrumentation depth in total joint arthroplasty

Surgical markers for robotic surgery with reduced bone penetration

System and method for planning and executing autologous bone grafting procedures

Robotic implant insertion system with force feedback to improve the quality of implant placement

Intraoperative adjustment of a pre-operatively planned implant cavity to improve implant fit

Acoustic analyzation of bone quality during orthopedic surgery

Implant design and computer assisted surgery

Image and laser guided control of cutting using a robotic surgical system

System and process for ultrasonic determination of long bone orientation

Method and system for surgical modeling

Method and system for surgical planning

Method and system for surgical modeling

Method and system for surgical planning

Bone fracture fixation system

Bone fracture fixation system

Self-tapping screw with resorbable tip

Bone plate providing threaded locking head screw capture

Bone fracture fixation system

Surgical system and method for shaping/forming less than all bone-cut surfaces for implant placement

Technical publications

A method to extend the applicability of hip center estimates in gait analysis

A low cost video pedobarograph for qualitative measurement of dynamic plantar pressures