Akara co-founder Conor McGinn revealed how his startup utilizes thermal sensors and artificial intelligence to reclaim up to four hours of lost operating room time daily during a recent discussion with TechCrunch AI Editor Russell Brandom. By automating the coordination of surgical suites, the Dublin-based company addresses a critical logistical bottleneck that currently costs hospitals millions in wasted resources and delayed procedures.
Eliminating the Chaos of Manual Hospital Scheduling
While much of the healthcare industry focuses on robotic surgery or diagnostic algorithms, Akara targets the administrative friction that occurs between operations. Hospitals currently lose between two and four hours of functional operating room (OR) time every day. This deficit stems not from the surgical procedures themselves, but from “coordination chaos”—the manual tracking of room turnover, equipment preparation, and staff readiness. Akara replaces this guesswork with a high-precision digital framework.
Air Traffic Control for the Modern Surgical Suite
The startup has developed what industry experts describe as “air traffic control” for healthcare facilities. By deploying thermal sensors coupled with proprietary AI, Akara monitors room status in real-time without compromising patient privacy. This system provides hospital administrators with instant visibility into room occupancy and turnover stages, allowing for seamless transitions between surgical teams and significantly reducing the idle time that typically plagues traditional scheduling methods.
Recognized as a Top Innovation of 2025
The impact of this technology has already garnered significant international attention. Akara recently secured a prestigious position on Time’s Best Inventions of 2025 list, validating its approach to solving one of healthcare’s most persistent infrastructure problems. By moving away from manual logs and toward sensor-driven automation, the company provides a scalable solution to increase patient throughput and optimize the most expensive real estate within a hospital: the operating room.
