Virtuoso Surgical is the outgrowth of a collaborative research effort developing surgical robotic systems undertaken by the founders of the firm while at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Anchored in an earlier non-exclusive licensed from John Hopkins, having to do with concentric tube technology for surgical purposes and, at a later date, an exclusive license from Vanderbilt University to patent applications related to endoscopic surgical devices using concentric tube manipulators, the firm is working on development of an endoscopic surgical device. The effort is to enable minimally invasive surgery by providing surgeons with dexterous, accurate, and cost-effective endoscopic robotic tools