Hands-on training, real surgeon input: inside BVI's new Experience Hub

BVI Medical has opened the Experience Hub, a hands-on ophthalmic training and collaboration facility in Sant Cugat, Spain, and Chief Commercial Officer, Andy Chang, and Chief Technology Officer, Mikhail Boukhny, discussed its purpose in an interview with Ophthalmology Times Europe. Chang described the Hub as a shared home where ophthalmologists can voice feedback on BVI's products and patient care approaches while company teams from research and development, commercial, and clinical applications train together to improve the overall surgeon experience.

Boukhny framed the surgeon relationship as a two-way exchange: the company designs products to ease the workload of surgeons and their staff, while surgeon feedback on both medical and practical business needs informs what BVI builds next. He noted that training needs differ by career stage—early-career surgeons tend to be more open to long-term innovation, including image recognition and artificial intelligence tools, while more senior surgeons often prioritize near-term practicality over novelty, given the disruption new technology can introduce to established workflows.

Hands-on training, without the patient

The Hub is designed to replicate a complete preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative environment, including wet labs and a mock operating theater for human factors testing. Boukhny said the absence of an actual patient allows surgeons and staff to focus fully on engaging with BVI's teams rather than patient care, which he characterized as a deliberate advantage of the setting rather than a limitation.

Access is currently invite-only, beginning with BVI's Surgical Leadership Councils in Europe and the US. Chang said an immediate priority is collecting surgeon feedback ahead of the commercial launch of Virtuoso, BVI's dual-function phaco-vitrectomy platform for anterior and posterior segment procedures, in Europe. Virtuoso received CE Mark approval under the EU Medical Device Regulation earlier in 2026, clearing the way for commercialization across European markets, with its rollout expected later this year.¹ Boukhny added that as a comparatively small, fast-growing company relative to larger strategic competitors, BVI depends on surgeon partnership to help prioritize which technologies to pursue and which to set aside.

Both executives positioned the Hub's location near Barcelona as reflecting a long-term commitment to education and collaboration over shorter-term product acceleration, with surgeon involvement central to how BVI plans to develop training and technology over the next 5 years.

Reference
BVI Medical gains CE mark for eye surgery platform. Medical Device Network. Published April 22, 2026. Accessed June 25, 2026. https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/news/bvi-medical-gains-ce-mark-for-eye-surgery-platform/