Heidelberg Engineering announces expansion of market access for digital surgical visualization platform

Heidelberg, Germany, April 13, 2026 – Heidelberg Engineering today announced the upcoming commercialization of Heidelberg OPERA, its fully digital surgical visualization platform, which will be introduced through the company’s global sales force and distribution network.

Bausch + Lomb, a long-standing distribution partner for the digital surgical microscope under the SeeLuma™ brand name, will continue to distribute the platform in parallel, ensuring continuity for customers while expanding market access through complementary commercial channels.

Heidelberg OPERA is centered around a fully digital surgical microscope which can be equipped with a powerful, next-generation intraoperative OCT, delivering advanced real-time visualization.

“This marks the first step in a longer journey toward a fully digital operating room – moving from stand-alone optical visualization to a connected digital surgical cockpit that brings OCT and other relevant data into the surgeon’s workflow. Over time, we see this platform enabling AI-driven intraoperative guidance and tighter integration with additional tools, including future interfaces to robotics, to support surgical decisions and reduce risks,” said Kfir Azoulay, Managing Director at Heidelberg Engineering.

“By extending our digital expertise into the operating theatre, we are enabling a new level of integration between diagnostics and surgery, empowering surgeons with real-time insights and supporting better outcomes across the entire patient journey,” added Dr. Holger Ruchatz, Head of Product Management at Heidelberg Engineering.

Key Features of the Heidelberg OPERA include:

• Enhanced ergonomics designed to support surgeon comfort and long-term health
• Exceptional image quality with advanced image enhancement capabilities
• Comprehensive educational features, including real-time annotation of the surgical view and flexible display options both inside and outside the operating room
• Seamless integration of a next-generation swept-source intraoperative OCT

Commercial activities are expected to commence in May 2026. Heidelberg OPERA will be showcased at ARVO 2026 in Denver and at SFO 2026 in Paris.

Next-generation intraoperative OCT

Just recently, the integrated intraoperative OCT had its first real-world use* in the OR at Dr. Alain Saad’s clinic in Paris, during ICL implantations and cataract procedures, providing overwhelmingly positive feedback. Beyond the excellent image quality - offering intraoperative insights they had not previously experienced - both surgeons particularly emphasized the intraoperative OCT's near-imperceptible latency.

Dr. Saad commented: “The dynamic, real-time OCT and the image quality are incredible. This is a true technological breakthrough. We are witnessing a new era in how surgeons see, decide and act during surgery.”

Dr. Gatinel added: "Throughout a surgical career, we encounter many innovations, some incremental, others more impactful. Very rarely, however, a technology arrives that genuinely changes the way we see, decide, and act in the operating room. After a full session of cataract surgeries with this new fully digital surgical microscope, which combines high-definition 3D visualization with real-time dynamic HR OCT during cataract surgery, I am convinced we are facing such a moment.“

Over the coming weeks and months, Heidelberg Engineering, together with leading experts in the field, will continue evaluating the intraoperative OCT to complement the digital surgical microscope.

*Disclaimer: Used in the framework of a clinical study, not yet commercially available.