Cianna Medical Inc., a medical device company in Aliso Viejo that focuses on developing devices used in breast cancer treatment, plans to aggressively grow the company with its latest Scout radar localization technology, which received Food and Drug Administration approval late last year.
Chief Executive Jill Anderson said the company is the first to develop radar—which has been widely used for navigation, aviation, weather forecasting and by the Department of National Defense—to be used in human tissue.
“We will be spending tremendous effort to further develop and improve our radar system,” Anderson said, adding that the company plans to grow its sales team—hiring about 10 people this summer—to increase sales and adoption of Scout. Its website listed the following positions: business development manager, sales account manager, and clinical applications specialists to provide training and support.
Cianna first received FDA approval for Scout two years ago. It provides real-time audible and visual indicators that allow surgeons to precisely locate nonpalpable breast lesions during a lumpectomy or biopsy surgery.
Its latest version of Scout is “the world’s only nonradioactive, wire-free breast localization system,” the company said. Using radar, surgeons can lock in on the exact location of the tumor within approximately one millimeter of accuracy.
“We chose radar because of its reliability—it’s [also] less expensive and precise. We are talking about one millimeter,” said Anderson. She said the company is very excited about this “cool technology coming out of OC,” and will also be hiring engineers to further research and develop it at its headquarters.
Treatment
Lumpectomy and mastectomy are the surgical treatment options for breast cancer. Mastectomy removes the entire breast, whereas lumpectomy, also called breast-conserving surgery or partial mastectomy, removes only the tumor, allowing surgeons to keep the breast looking much like it did before surgery. But Anderson pointed out patients often return for a second lumpectomy—and that has nothing to do with the effectiveness of lumpectomy but a procedure called wire-localization.
Breast cancers found by mammography or other imaging are not always palpable. If that’s the case, the patient needs a procedure called wire-localization, where a very thin wire or radioactive seed is inserted into the breast in the area of the cancer to use as a guide for the surgeon to find and remove the tumor during surgery. The procedure has to be done just before surgery, requiring two procedures on the same day.
“It’s very disturbing from a patient-experience [point of view]. The wires would have to be placed in early morning, and [patients] would hang out with wires protruding from their breasts until surgery is done. About 30% to 60% of those women have to go back for a second surgery, and the wire is … one of the biggest causes—because the wire moves, and maybe it’s not rightly inserted,” said Anderson.
She pointed out that with the Scout radar localization system, surgeons can place the reflector at the lumpectomy site up to 30 days prior to surgical removal and use the Scout handpiece—which emits infrared light and a micro-impulse radar signal to detect the location of the reflector—to scan the breast during the surgery.
“Radar is about tracking [the tumor], identifying it, locating it—[those] are all critical components of doing a successful breast cancer surgery,” according to Anderson. She said the company is considering a number of applications for the technology, as well as approval in Europe.
Over 125 medical centers have adopted Scout, according to the company.
Founding
Cianna Medical was founded in 2007 when its Savi brachytherapy technology was spun out from BioLucent Inc., at the same time as BioLucent’s acquisition by Hologic Inc. in Marlborough, Mass. A breast brachytherapy, or radiation therapy, is applied after a lumpectomy to kill any remaining cancer cells in the breast. Savi is an applicator that allows physicians to more precisely deliver radiation from inside the breast via a bundle of catheters. The approach allows every catheter to deliver an individual dose of radiation.
Investors include lead investor Novo Ventures, Novo A/S in San Francisco, and Fog City Fund, Emergent Medical Partners and Saints Capital.
