Funding
Smart Surgical Appliances (SSA), a developer of medical devices to improve the safety of minimally invasive surgery, has raised £330,000 from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), Imperial Innovations plc, EF Investments, and the company’s Executive Chairman Paul Donnelly.
The company specialises in the development of sensor-enabled technologies for minimally invasive surgery, and plans to use the investment round to make further technical and regulatory progress on their lead device, the Smart Bougie, an oesophageal dilator that measures the elasticity in the external walls of the oesophagus.
Adam James of SSA said, “During minimally invasive surgery it is essential to know that you have dilated the area enough and are not risking rupturing tissue. Smart Bougie allows surgeons to monitor dilatation more accurately than before and also allows for the opposite scenario where surgeons are “tightening” the region during a surgical repair and want to make sure it is not too tight and not too loose.”
Managing Director of NESTA Investments David Hunter said, “This kind of [...] technology can make a real difference to both practitioners and patients involved in this type of delicate surgery, and is a great example of how early-stage investment can make a real, tangible impact.” NESTA made a pre-seed investment in SSA in March 2008.
Receive the Funding Newswire each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.