At least his job description hasn’t changed all that much.
Richard M. Mueller has been named chief technology officer at TransEnterix Inc., a Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based firm that developed a minimally invasive surgical system called the Spider. The device, according to product data, takes a laparoscopic approach to minimally invasive surgery, allowing doctors to use multiple instruments through one incision. The system works much like an umbrella, opening up and expanding once it’s inside the abdomen. The expansion, company executives claim, enables surgeons to approach the surgical site from different angles.
TransEnterix executives drafted Mueller from NuVasive Inc., where he worked as vice president of product development. During his five-year stint at the San Diego, Calif., firm, Mueller helped expand the company’s product line and boost annual revenue.
Before joining NuVasive, Mueller was research and product development director at Theken Spine LLC, an Akron, Ohio-based manufacturer of spinal fixation products that was acquired by Integra LifeSciences Holding Corporation of Plainsboro, N.J., in the summer of 2008.
Before that, he supervised research and development efforts at Volk Optical Inc. of Mentor, Ohio, and served as both project manager and department manager at Proctor & Gamble, where he managed the global manufacturing of over-the-counter products.
TransEnterix executives said Mueller’s experience and approach to product development made him an ideal choice for the chief technology officer position. Mueller will oversee all aspects of the company’s research and development efforts, including rapid innovation.
“With more than 100 medical device product launches under his belt, Rich knows how to effectively engage surgeons and advance innovative solutions that make their work easier and result in better patient care,” Pope said. “Given our vision of innovation based on surgeon feedback, Rich is uniquely qualified to build upon the launch of our Spider Surgical System.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the Spider Surgical System formarket in 2009.