Capstan Medical designed its mitral coronary heart valve implant with a self-expanding nitinol body. | Supply: Capstan Medical
Coronary heart illness continues to be a number one reason for loss of life within the U.S., killing almost 700,000 People annually, based on the Facilities for Illness Management. Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Capstan Medical stated it has been working to merge surgical robotics with catheter-based expertise utilizing supplies corresponding to nitinol, in addition to next-generation implants.
Maggie Nixon, CEO of Capstan Medical, not too long ago supplied an replace on the startup‘s surgical robots and her perspective on minimally invasive medical expertise. She additionally mentioned her staff’s work with nitinol, current funding from Intuitive Ventures, and what she has realized about management for the reason that former Intuitive Surgical engineer-turned-executive grew to become Capstan’s CEO.
Nitinol is a virtually equiatomic steel alloy of nickel and titanium with distinctive properties, together with superelasticity (additionally referred to as pseudoelasticity) and form reminiscence. Superelasticity or pseudoelasticity means medical-grade nitinol reveals nice elasticity below stress and may snap again to its authentic form when stress is launched.
The alloy’s properties permit medical units to compress to a decrease profile when being positioned in a affected person utilizing a catheter. Implants manufactured from nitinol corresponding to coronary heart valves can develop to their supposed dimension and form on the web site of implantation and stay contained in the affected person. In the meantime, nitinol remedy units corresponding to ablation catheters can develop contained in the physique, deal with focused tissue, after which compress once more for retrieval.
Form reminiscence means medical-grade nitinol can bear in mind its authentic form and return to it when heated. For instance, some catheter-delivered implants are designed to develop to their pre-formed form at physique temperature for everlasting placement.
The excerpts beneath have been flippantly edited for area and readability.
Capstan works carefully with nitinol suppliers
Is there something Capstan has realized about nitinol that you would share with our readers?
Nixon: A few of it’s in our secret sauce, so we wish to be delicate to it. However what I say greater than something is you’ve obtained to companion together with your producers. We work so carefully with not simply our nitinol uncooked materials suppliers ensuring that we’re getting a constant provide chain arrange, however we work so carefully with our producer by way of our growth course of and implementation, during their pilot line transfers and whatnot.
When you view that as one thing the place you throw it over the wall to a provider and anticipate that you just’re going to get one thing again that works, it’s simply not the way it works. Nitinol is amongst our closest provider relationships, and we navigate these very fastidiously as a result of we view that as a partnership.
Do you wish to give a shout-out to any of the companions that you just’re working with on nitinol?
Nixon: We work with Admedes in Germany, and they’re improbable companions.
Capstan CEO Maggie Nixon. | Supply: Capstan Medical
Nixon shares classes in management
What have you ever realized about management because you grew to become CEO?
Nixon: I stepped in in 2022 to steer Occam Labs, which is the incubator that Capstan has come out of. After which in 2023, I moved into the centered Capstan Medical CEO position.
So I went from Intuitive — which was 12,000 or 13,000 folks — into an organization that was 15 folks. The very first thing I did was constructed a desk and a chair and and obtained my pc working. And probably the most unbelievable a part of all of it’s simply the power round what we’re searching for to perform. That’s been the thrilling factor.
We’ve grown our staff to most likely slightly over 75 on the Capstan facet alone, however actually what it’s about is all people’s obtained that very same mentality and keenness as we’re searching for to deal with this area and the creativity that we’re bringing to the desk in an effort to tackle it in a brand new manner.
Protecting that momentum is one in all my largest priorities as a frontrunner within the coming years for Capstan. That foundational power from the staff goes to gasoline us simply as a lot because the {dollars} that come by way of the fundraises.
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Intuitive nonetheless a key a part of the community
And all the pieces’s pleasant with Intuitive Surgical?
Nixon: My time at intuitive was immensely useful, and I’m nonetheless shut mates and collaborators with them.
Intuitive Ventures continued their funding, and I feel the world of all the pieces that Intuitive is doing. I nonetheless use them deeply in my community.
Do you’ve gotten recommendation for the way to get in entrance of Intuitive Ventures or make a deal occur?
Nixon: Muriel Thinard McLane and Vivian Golfin (De Ruijter) and that staff are so energetic. At a number of the funding conferences, you’ll see them on panels and whatnot. Actually, the easiest way to have interaction with them is seize them at a kind of conferences.
At the very least that’s my perspective. They’re always scanning the setting for for unbelievable alternatives, and they’re among the most energetic, particularly within the early-stage conferences.”
Editor’s notice: This text was syndicated from The Robotic Report sibling web site Medical Design and Outsourcing.
