About
4D Surgical’s mission is to democratize physical access to the brain so that life-changing neurotherapies can be delivered to millions of people each year. Our founding team has built at the forefront of brain computer interfaces, medical robotics, brain surgery, and image-guided neuro interventions.
Backed by
Founding Team
Lorne Hofstetter, MD, PhD
Co-founder, CEO
GE Healthcare, University of Utah School of Medicine
Lorne completed his medical training with plans to become a neurosurgeon. His path shifted when he developed an approach to MRI-compatible robot design that now underpins 4D Surgical’s vision for a new era in robotic surgery. Once he saw the future this breakthrough could unlock, he couldn’t turn back; enabling MRI-guided robotic surgery became his North Star. Before completing his MD and PhD, Lorne worked at GE Healthcare, where he built imaging software and hardware for MRI-guided procedures. Lorne co-founded and sold his first startup in 2015.
Roman Devengenzo
Co-founder, Head of Hardware
Intuitive Surgical, Google, J&J
Roman is a pioneer in the surgical robotics industry with over 25 years of experience. At Intuitive Surgical, his contributions to robotic architecture & design span all 5 generations of their da Vinci multiport surgical system, which has treated over 20M patients. He has since provided technical and strategic leadership to teams developing surgical robots that range from alternate multiport architectures to percutaneous, endoluminal and transcutaneous approaches. He is an inventor on 80+ issued US utility patents from 7 companies.
Gilbert Montague
Co-founder, Head of Software
Neuralink, Science, OpenROV
Gil is the creator of software for all things robots. At Neuralink he led the core software development to enable an autonomous brain surgery robot. He created and deployed computer vision algorithms to enable automated and precise implantation of electrodes on the dynamic brain surface. He has developed next gen neural recording devices, low-cost underwater drones, and multi-agent robotic systems.
Blake Zimmerman, PhD
Co-founder, Software
qBio, Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute
Blake has spent his career leveraging MRI and AI to create new medical treatments. At a VC-backed startup, he led the development of an FDA-cleared AI pipeline and the infrastructure behind large-scale medical imaging models. With a PhD in MRI-guided procedures, he brings deep expertise in computer vision and medical image analysis. He co-founded 4D Surgical to shape the future of surgery by integrating live MRI, AI, and robotics into one seamless treatment paradigm.
Colin Wilson
Hardware
Mendaera, Auris Health (now J&J)
Colin takes surgical robotics concepts from zero to FDA clearance. Most recently at Mendaera, he developed key mechanical systems to enable precise needle placement under ultrasound image guidance. His expertise spans the full surgical robotics stack, from mechanical to electrical to manufacturing. At 4D he is leveraging this range to build a robotic platform to deliver therapies to the brain that is guided by live MRI.
Casey Nordgran
RF & Motor Controls
Sarcos Robotics, L3 Harris, Wilson Electronics
Casey has an extraordinary capacity to devour new knowledge and within days craft novel solutions spanning RF, motor controls, and analog design engineering. At Wilson Electronics he led the engineering team on the end-to-end design and high-volume production of novel RF signal repeaters for multiple consumer and commercial hardware products (>300k units sold). At Sarcos Robotics he designed and built custom motor controllers for robotics systems. At 4D Surgical he is leveraging his background in RF and robotics motor controls to create an MRI-robot paradigm.
Matthew MacDougall, MD
Advisor
Neuralink, Neurosurgeon
Dr. MacDougall is a pioneer in brain-computer interfaces, Chief of Neurosurgery at Sutter Health, and Head Neurosurgeon at Neuralink. He sees the MRI-robot paradigm being developed at 4D Surgical as a critical step toward democratizing access to high quality brain surgery, making treatments easier to perform and safer for patients suffering from neurological diseases and disorders.
Shervin Rahimpour, MD
Advisor
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Rahimpour is a stereotactic and functional neurosurgeon, Chief Value Officer, and Director of the Human Neuromodulation Lab in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Utah. He specializes in using intraoperative MRI to precisely deliver acoustic and novel cell therapies to the brain. He sees the platform under development at 4D as key to enabling the delivery of these emerging disease modifying therapies at scale.