Minnetronix Medical has announced that it has brought its own device to market as it looks to expand its medical technology capabilities.
MindsEye, an expandable brain-access port for use during surgery, is the only such product on the market, the St. Paul-based medical-device manufacturer said. It’s also the first medical device that Minnetronix, which had previously only manufactured other companies' devices, had conceived, developed, manufactured and brought to the market that is its own since the company was founded in 1996.
The product looks to provide better, minimally invasive access and visuals of the deep brain during surgeries for stroke and cancer, according to a press release.
The company began developing MindsEye in 2018, later receiving FDA clearance in 2020. Last month, Minnetronix closed on a deal with Union City, Calif.-based Mizuho America Inc., a medical supplier, to distribute its products among health care institutions in the U.S., said Matt Adams, vice president and general manager at Minnetronix. The company is now working with half a dozen hospitals in this early launch phase.
The market opportunity for such a product is greater than $500 million, Adams said.
The market-ready product allows Minnetronix’s customers to have “a complete product dropped straight into their sales bag,” Adams said.
“Minnetronix is taking partnerships in the med device industry to a whole new level, which sets us apart from contract developers and manufacturers,” he said in the news release. “Our first from-scratch product showcases our end-to-end capabilities to support our customers’ needs across device conceptualization and design, clinical research and partnerships, regulatory navigation, and manufacturing. We offer a whole new way for med device companies, startups, and investors to reduce the cost, risk, and time of building products themselves.”
To support the company’s growth, Minnetronix has been undergoing an expansion of its St. Paul headquarters and is in the process of finishing up a second phase, which will bring its facility up to 180,000 square feet for designing and manufacturing medical technology, Adams said.
The company has added about 100 employees over the past year for a total of 500 employees, two-thirds of which are in engineering, he added.
Beyond MindsEye, Minnetronix is developing other neurological products, including one called Neurapheresis, which is intended to treat a form of hemorrhagic stroke, Adams said. Bolstering Minnetronix’s capabilities into the future, he added that the company continues to invest in specializing in optical technology, fluid-based medical technology, radio frequency and stimulation technology.
