# Teodor Grantcharov

> Teodor Grantcharov is the founder and CEO of Aimbient, formerly Surgical Safety Technologies, and a Stanford professor. Educated in Bulgaria and Denmark, he moved to Toronto in 2006 and later joined Stanford. His public interviews connect early VHS self-review, an interest in aviation and the desire to turn academic research into useful products.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Aimbient (formerly SST)
- **Organizations:** Aimbient (formerly Surgical Safety Technologies), Stanford University, University of Toronto, International Centre for Surgical Safety
- **Education:** MD, Medical University of Plovdiv, Postgraduate training, University of Copenhagen, PhD, Aarhus University
- **Known for:** Developed the OR Black Box concept., Founded Surgical Safety Technologies, later renamed Aimbient., Published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, according to his current Stanford biography.

## Career timeline

- **1996** — Graduated from the Medical University of Plovdiv.
- **1999** — Began research into virtual reality systems for measuring professional skills in Denmark.
- **2003** — Completed a PhD at Aarhus University.
- **2006** — Moved to the University of Toronto and began working with engineers, designers and researchers.
- **2014** — Introduced the first OR Black Box prototype, as recounted in Conversations with Cohen.
- **2017** — Founded SST, according to the St. Michael’s research report.
- **2022** — Joined Stanford as a professor.
- **2026** — SST announced its Aimbient name on July 7 and identified him as founder and CEO.

## Achievements

- Developed the OR Black Box concept.
- Founded Surgical Safety Technologies, later renamed Aimbient.
- Published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, according to his current Stanford biography.
- Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
- Recipient of the Spinoza Chair at the University of Amsterdam.
- Honorary fellow of Imperial College London.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — SST announced its change to Aimbient on July 7 and named Grantcharov as founder and CEO. Company-reported figures included more than 15 million hours of training data and deployment in 450 rooms across North America and Europe.
- **2026-07** — Published the LinkedIn article “10 years, 15M hours of procedural data, 1 new name: Aimbient” on July 7.

## Links

- Website: https://www.aimbient.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teodorgrantcharov
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/TGrantcharovMD

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/teodor-grantcharov
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25