MedLumics has raised €18 million, or about $21.8 million, to move toward clinically proving its optically guided heart ablation catheter for treating atrial fibrillation.
The Madrid-based company’s AblaView system is equipped with sensors that use optical coherence tomography—an imaging technique using light to scan and penetrate a few millimeters of tissue—to directly observe the creation of ablation lesions in the cardiac muscle wall in real time and assure the correct placement of the catheter’s electrodes.
The proceeds will help carry MedLumics into first-in-human clinical testing, following the preclinical feasibility studies it completed last year, the company said. The fundraising was backed by Asabys Partners, Kurma Partners, VI Partners Swiss Innovation, CDTI Innvierte Economía, Andera Partners, Caixa Capital Risc and Innogest Capital II.
“The Medlumics technology has the potential to greatly enhance clinical outcomes by providing real time feedback on constant contact of the ablation and visual display of the depth and conductivity of the tissue,” said Rich Ferrari, co-founder and managing director of De Novo Ventures, who was named the new chairman of MedLumics’ board of directors following the investment round.
Ferrari previously served as CEO of medtech companies CardioThoracic Systems and Cardiovascular Imaging Systems. MedLumics’ former chairman, Andera Partners’ Olivier Litzka, will continue as vice chairman of the board.
“We have seen an intensive and exciting period between 2017 and 2020, in which Medlumics has masterminded technically one of the most difficult to accomplish challenges in the electrophysiology lab by delivering a catheter which is capable of performing real-time lesion assessments during AF ablation,” Litzka said.