Current Surgical, a medical device developer based in Washington, DC, aims to create a "smart needle" that may help treat cancerous tumors without surgery.

This week, the company announced that it had received a $3.2 million seed.

Raising Funds

The startup shared the news of a $3.2 million initial investment. True Ventures led the round, which included participation from 1517 Fund and SciFounders, bringing the total financing for the company to $4 million. In late 2020 and early 2021, the firm initiated contact with potential investors for the pre-seed round of funding. 

"Because we're trying to change the paradigm in surgery, which will not fit into a 1-2 year time frame, we were excited to find our investors who had the same level of vision and ambition that we have," said the company.

The funds will be utilized in part to expand the startup's workforce by a manageable amount. Roughly six to eight engineers across many disciplines like electrical, mechanical, and ultrasound will be hired over the next two years.

The startup told TechCrunch that the initial financing would be used to grow their team to create the clinical embodiment of the device they are developing, which will then be tested with clinical partners in a preclinical context.

The device will also be consulted with the Food and Drug Administration to verify necessary testing and procedures for the firm's technology.

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'Smart Needle'

The goal of Current Surgical's research and development is to create a smart needle that may be used to treat malignant tumors without the need for invasive surgery. Allegedly, these can cause damage to nearby organs or the use of toxic chemicals or radiation, each of which has its own set of negative side effects.

Needles are already used for a technique called thermal ablation, which destroys cancerous tumors. But, this technology improves upon this approach by making it more precise.

Current Surgical said, "We're excited about our technology because we have the benefits of the small size of a needle, yet with much higher precision, allowing us to precisely and confidently treat tumors anywhere in the body... To achieve this, we are developing a new technology stack that uses novel ultrasound sensors that allows the doctor to see and destroy the tumor in [real-time] without damaging surrounding healthy anatomy."

Alireza Mashal, the company's CEO, and Chris Wagner, the company's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), are both medical experts with prior startup experience. They started Current Surgical in 2020. 

They call their product "a software-enabled surgical platform," and they want to use it to cure more than just tumors. Conditions like chronic pain and cardiac arrhythmia are among the others they hope to help with.

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