AI startup seeking to eliminate need for pre-op imaging raises $33M
See All AI, an artificial intelligence startup seeking to eliminate the need for pre-op imaging, has raised $33 million in funding, leaders announced Tuesday.
Its platform transforms standard 2D C-arm fluoroscopic X-rays into “navigable” 3D volumes. This helps reduce the need for pre-surgery CTs, MRIs and other scans. See All AI touts its ability to enable “real time surgical planning and visualization,” with images “comparable to CT” but without the radiation burden, high cost or capital footprint.
“This isn’t just innovation for innovation’s sake, it’s solving real problems,” Todd Albert, MD, See All AI’s chief medical officer and surgeon-in-chief emeritus at New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery, said in a statement May 27. “We’re delivering 3D image-guided navigation that reduces complexity, radiation, operating room time and cost, all without changing the instruments and techniques surgeons already use.”
See All AI did not disclose participants in the investment round, and the company’s technology is not cleared by the FDA nor available for clinical use. Leaders said they are eyeing submission and possible approval in the U.S. sometime this year. See All AI previously proved its ability to generate high-resolution 3D volumetric images (viewable in 1 mm slices across multiple planes) via scans of cadavers. The platform is designed for minimally invasive surgery workflows and requires no direct line-of-sight between the company’s visible light camera and the patient’s anatomy.
In addition, the See All AI also has developed a “Track All” visible light spectrum camera designed to aid in accuracy when utilizing surgical instruments. The system requires no markers or emitters and is aimed at simplifying setup and improving intraoperative flexibility.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.