TEHRAN (Press TV) -- A medical technology company in Iran has started marketing a patented device in other countries as a customer in China takes delivery of a first batch of its simulators that are used in ophthalmic surgeries.
Without naming the company, the IRIB News said that the Iranian-made simulator had already found its way into the market in China with the Iranian company being a first to export such high-tech medical devices to other countries.
Other reports suggested the device, marketed under the trade mark of OpSim, is an educational simulator used in eye surgeries, especially for operations involving cataract and glaucoma.
The device has been developed by SiMedix, a tech startup which operates as a branch of a larger government-backed science and technology company based in the Iranian capital Tehran.
The Iran University of Medical Sciences had approved the use of OpSim in one of its hospitals in Tehran in March 2018.
The IRIB News said the simulator has also been marketed in countries like India, Singapore, Turkey and Russia and exports would be possible if administrative hurdles are cleared.
Iran has a robust program for supporting the science-based sector of its economy as startups, many of them staffed by young Iranian graduates, have been awarded government contracts to fill a gap created by the absence of foreign companies because of American sanctions on Iran.
Health technology firms have been a major help to programs in Iran to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as U.S. sanctions have effectively barred the government’s access to foreign supplies of drugs and medical equipment.