A Bloomington-based medical-device company has raised just over $4 million to expand commercialization of its imaging system that's used for a procedure that helps detect heart conditions.
Visura Technologies Inc. announced this week that it secured Series B equity financing from a lead strategic investor as well as new and existing investors, though they were not named. A securities filing shows participation from 26 investors.
The funding is intended to help Visura expand commercialization of its TEECAD System after entering the market last year. The system allows cardiologists to use Visura's disposable camera for real-time imaging during a procedure called transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), which includes inserting a probe into a patient’s esophagus.
Visura’s system, which was initially FDA-cleared in 2018, is intended to provide a safer, “more efficient and effective probe placement” for the procedure, the company says. The procedure can be used to detect signs of conditions like congenital heart disease, heart failure and cardiac tumors.
Through commercialization efforts, the company plans to hire additional sales employees, increase its clinical presence and work to get its system in hospitals within 10 centers of excellence, like the Cleveland Clinic, in 2023, CEO and President Christine Horton said in an interview. Horton took on the leadership position in early 2022 to lead such efforts, Minne Inno reported.
An estimated 650,000 TEE procedures are performed annually in the U.S., the company says.
“With this financing, our TEECAD System will make a positive impact for more patients, cardiologists and the healthcare system,” Horton said in a statement.
Looking ahead, the company plans to expand the TEECAD System’s capability in probes from more manufacturers. It currently has 12 employees and contractors, a majority of whom are based in Minnesota, Horton said.
