Microsure and the EIC Accelerator: A Robot for Microsurgery

Reconnecting lymphatic vessels, blood vessels and nerves less than a millimetre wide pushes the limits of the human hand. Microsure, based at the science park in Son en Breugel near Eindhoven, builds MUSA, a robot that filters a surgeon's tremor and scales down their movements for this kind of super-microsurgery, used for example in reconstructive surgery after breast cancer.

The European Innovation Council granted €1,814,022 towards a €2.64 million project to scale up production of the robot. The EIC Fund then joined a €38 million funding round in 2023. In May 2026 the third-generation robot, MUSA-3, received its CE mark, and the company changed chief executive to start selling it.

Where Microsure Stands Today

On 7 May 2026 Microsure announced that MUSA-3 had received its CE mark under the EU Medical Device Regulation, allowing clinical use in Europe, and that Alex Joseph, who led MUSA-3's development, had succeeded Iwan van Vijfeijken as chief executive. Joseph said the focus was now "generating clinical evidence and demonstrating the value of our technology in practice" at leading European centres. Earlier in 2026 the company appointed the former Siemens Healthineers executive Michel Thérin as chair of its supervisory board, citing preparations for launch and regulatory clearances in Europe and the US.

The Technology: Steadier Than a Human Hand

MUSA sits between the surgeon and the instruments, so that large, natural hand movements become tiny, tremor-free movements at the tip. Its predecessor, MUSA-2, was used in clinical studies at Maastricht University Medical Center and Uppsala University Hospital, where the company says about 50 patients were treated by 2023, and in an in-vitro study in which 20 microsurgeons performed more than 200 anastomoses. MUSA-3, developed during and after the EIC project, has new robotic arms that the CORDIS report says reach "surgical precision that is beyond the state of the art".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

MEETMUSA aimed to speed up market introduction of MUSA-3 by scaling up production. The project, which ran from January 2022 to April 2024, reports that "a full production line is realized to produce the robotic arms and to integrate these into the complete system", that assembly documentation and tooling were completed, that prototypes were tested with groups of 2 to 15 surgeons, and that patents were filed for the new arm design. It reports no units shipped or hospital deployments.

1. Production line for MUSA-3DeliveredFull line for arms and system integration, per CORDIS.
2. Validated next-generation armsDeliveredSimulated-use studies with surgeons; patents filed.
3. CE markingDeliveredMay 2026, two years after the project.
4. US clearance and salesNot yetFDA clearance pursued; no sales figures published.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

In October 2023 Microsure raised €38 million in a Series B2 round with the EIC Fund, kineo, Invest-NL, Innovation Industries, BOM Ventures, Ten Cate Investerings Maatschappij, Venturing Tech and Eindhoven University of Technology, to finish MUSA-3 for clinical studies, CE marking and FDA clearance. The EIC Fund's share was not disclosed.

Why Europe Should Care

Microsurgery is a specialised field where robotic help is new. Microsure is a Dutch company with a CE-marked system for it, developed with Dutch university hospitals and Uppsala, and backed by Dutch state and regional investors and the EIC Fund.

The Verdict

Microsure has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records, company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.