When surgeons and nurses are operating on a patient, they shouldn't have to worry about being exposed to radiation from a fluoroscopic X-Ray.
And that’s where Atlanta medtech startup ControlRad comes in.
Last week, the company raised $15 million in a Series B funding round led by Questa Capital. The funding will be used for the company’s commercial launch of its Trace system, which focuses X-Ray imaging during surgery and prevents unnecessary exposure to physicians, nurses and even the patient. In addition to the funding, ControlRad announced medical device industry veterans Ryan Drant and Tim Patrick have joined its board of directors.
The startup received FDA clearance for its device in May and released its first clinical use in New York in September.
ControlRad President and CEO Guillaume Bailliard said when fluoroscopic X-Ray is used during surgery to see inside a patient, a majority of the X-Ray scatters and hits the physicians, nurses and operating staff.
"That creates a lot of adverse events with physicians," he said.
Due to this constant exposure, physicians have an increased rate of stroke, cancer in the leftside of the brain (physicians' leftside of the brain is usually closest to the X-Ray when its in use), increased incident of cataracts and other side effects, Bailliard said.
"Our technology reduces those risks," he said.
ControlRad's Trace system focuses the X-Ray necessary for the physician to see and dramatically reduces the risks to medical staff.
"Our motto is protecting you, saving others," Bailliard said. When asked if this focus would expose the patient to more radiation, he said, "No, in fact, by focusing the X-Ray beam, instead of exposing a large range of view, you’re dramatically reducing the radiation. The patient gets less radiation and the staff gets less radiation."
The idea for ControlRad was created by three individuals, one of which is an interventional radiologist, who is constantly exposed to X-Ray, a robotic professional at Drexel and an Israeli engineer, Bailliard said. ControlRad would not disclose how much money it raised prior to its Series B round, but Bailliard said the round would be used to fuel the commercialization of the startup's product.
When asked if the startup struggled to get funding for a medical device, an often overlooked industry in Atlanta, Bailliard said it wasn't difficult due to the opportunity for ControlRad to enter the market.
"It’s very much like the NFL concussion story. There’s been a couple key pieces, effects have been there forever, but it has reached a tipping point that everyone is concerned about it," Bailliard said. "For that reason, the timing has been right for us to raise money."
Bailliard said the company is growing, and recently signed a lease for a permanent location in Atlanta Tech Park. ControlRad is hiring for project managers, service operation managers and other positions during its growth phase.
