Synaptive Medical Secures Over $40 Million in Canadian Government Funding to Advance Integrated Neurosurgical Solutions

Canadian medical technology innovator Synaptive Medical has secured $40 million in financing from EDC (Export Development Canada). This marks another major milestone for Synaptive Medical following its selection for investment by INOVAIT’s inaugural Focus Fund on March 6.

Both investment firms have official Canadian backing. Established in 1944, Export Development Canada (EDC) is Canada’s official export credit agency, providing financing and technical support exclusively to Canadian exporters. INOVAIT, founded in 2020, is supported by the Canadian government’s Strategic Innovation Fund. The inaugural Focus Fund provided up to USD 22.7 million in funding to 14 R&D projects with a focus on commercialization, including Synaptive Medical.

Synaptive Medical, founded in 2014, is a company specializing in the research and development of neurosurgical equipment and technologies. Although based in Canada, nearly all of Synaptive’s revenue to date has come from exports, with the majority originating from the U.S. market. With strong support from the Canadian government, can Synaptive leverage its innovative approaches in medical technology to catch up with the United States, a global powerhouse in medical device manufacturing?

Synaptive Medical’s current comprehensive surgical product suite for neurosurgery spans two major domains—hardware products and software systems—comprising seven core products. Through a medically integrated ecosystem designed via interdisciplinary collaboration, these seven products deliver high-quality information and cutting-edge automation technologies to physicians and patients, enabling efficient and precise diagnosis and care throughout the entire clinical pathway.

Synaptive Medical's Current Product Portfolio

Compiled and produced by VCBeat

Fully Automated Robotic Digital Microscope

Image source: Synaptive Medical official website

Modus V is an automated digital microscope controlled by robotics. Equipped with a 12.5x optical zoom lens and enhanced video processing capabilities, it delivers a clearer surgical field of view. The 3D surgical visualization, featuring natural depth perception, improves intraoperative comfort and operational precision for surgeons. All system settings support AI-powered voice control, freeing operations from the constraints of traditional surgical workflows.

Stryker, a global giant in orthopedics and medical technology, entered into a strategic partnership with Synaptive Medical in 2019 regarding Modus V, expanding its business scope into the spinal market through joint marketing efforts.

In February 2020, Swoop, the world’s first bedside MRI system developed by Hyperfine, a leader in portable MRI technology, received FDA approval. Two months later, Synaptive Medical’s superconducting MRI product, Evry, also obtained FDA clearance.

Evry is a leading MRI imaging system. It features a 0.5T cryogen-free superconducting magnet and is suitable for various medical settings, including emergency departments, ICUs, and neuroscience centers. The Evry system has a footprint of only 250 square feet (approximately 23 square meters) and can be powered on or off within 15 minutes.

Bedside MRI System: Evry

Image source: Synaptive Medical official website

BrightMatter Simulate is a brain tissue model kit designed for practicing or demonstrating neurosurgical techniques and procedures, featuring anatomical structures including the brain, vasculature, bone, and pathological lesions.

The haptic feedback and responsive behavior of simulated living cortical tissue enable physicians to repeatedly replicate clinical surgical procedures outside the operating room. Furthermore, Simulate is compatible with MRI, CT, and ultrasound imaging, allowing for the visualization of pathological information and anatomical details within the model to reveal deep-seated brain lesions.

BrightMatter Simulate

Image source: Synaptive Medical official website

BrightMatter Guide is an innovative solution that integrates advanced imaging, surgical planning, and automated visualization for navigation. Its functionality is analogous to GPS navigation, providing real-time 3D images during the planning of complex brain surgeries. This assists physicians in charting a safe trajectory into the patient’s brain, thereby avoiding damage to or disruption of critical neural pathways.

Modus Plan is a platform capable of automating whole-brain tractography. As a non-invasive tool, Modus Plan provides patients with safer treatment options, such as inferring the location of white matter tracts, determining the extent of tumor resection, and monitoring postoperative recovery.

At the end of 2022, Synaptive launched “Reveal,” a new feature for Modus Plan. This newly patented technology enables dynamic, free-level correction of whole-brain tractography, restoring visualization of regions around brain injuries that are typically obscured by diffusion signals (such as edematous areas). AI-powered Modus Plan can automatically locate specific patient fiber tracts within seconds.

Free Leveling Software: Reveal

Image source: Synaptive Medical official website

ImageDrive is an artificial intelligence and machine learning platform built on a web-based infrastructure, designed for users in the research community. The system automatically collects, identifies, organizes, and shares data and digital images among various research collaborators, optimizing collaborative workflows, safeguarding data integrity, and enabling large-scale clinical studies.

Meanwhile, Clinical also addresses the protection of patient privacy. The software is equipped with automated de-identification tools compliant with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), which systematically de-identify data from subjects in research or clinical trials.

Synaptive Medical Products

Image source: Synaptive Medical official website

Beyond leveraging hardware and software to empower every stage of the surgical workflow, Synaptive also provides physicians with a modern, AI-powered learning platform. Together, these seven products constitute Synaptive Medical’s technology platform and product ecosystem.

Significant advances in neurosurgery have long depended on progress in medical imaging, microsurgical techniques, and information technology.

The entire process of medical treatment and nursing care involves numerous departments, personnel, and technologies, with each link functioning as an isolated silo of technology and products. Synaptive Medical breaks down these barriers and creates touchpoints to deliver a seamless, integrated experience across the full clinical lifecycle for physicians and patients, thereby enhancing operational efficiency for healthcare institutions and clinicians while improving patient care experiences and outcomes.

Any product within Synaptive Medical’s ecosystem can seamlessly integrate with other Synaptive products while also being compatible with relevant offerings from other major brands, thereby maximizing efficiency and convenience in the technology and services provided to physicians and patients.

Synaptive Medical's Product Ecosystem

Image source: Synaptive Medical official website

For example, the synergy between Evry and Modus Plan enables rapid analysis and generation of patient tractography images via Modus Plan once image scanning results are obtained by Evry. Meanwhile, leveraging the 3D visualization of Modus V and the navigational guidance of Guide, physicians can visualize details invisible to the naked eye or on conventional MRI scans, thereby achieving “real-time” surgical planning and intraoperative assistance for precise treatment.

All of these functions can be simultaneously controlled by AI voice commands during surgery, and the surgical data and imaging materials of every team member can be aggregated and uploaded in real time to ImageDrive to facilitate data sharing and collaborative teamwork. Likewise, data and images stored in the ImageDrive database can be retrieved for physicians’ reference.

Synaptive’s product ecosystem ensures the use of consistent, high-quality patient data throughout the entire treatment cycle by leveraging data collection and seamless cross-device communication. This interconnected workflow also enables physicians to make optimal treatment decisions more rapidly. Furthermore, built on an open web platform, the ecosystem integrates with third-party systems to further optimize existing workflows.

The medical device industry is a high-tech sector characterized by multidisciplinary integration, knowledge intensity, and capital intensity. The Canadian government has identified e-health technology as one of its key priority industries for development. According to data from Statistics Canada, the total value of Canada’s medical device exports in 2020 was approximately USD 4.44 billion, with the United States accounting for 74.03% of this total.

Synaptive Medical, a Canadian company, holds a leading position globally in the medical device sector with its products and technologies, primarily targeting the U.S. commercial market. According to Crunchbase data, Synaptive Medical has secured 12 rounds of funding since its founding in 2014, totaling $539 million.

Synaptive Medical Funding History

Compiled and produced by VCBeat

Neurosurgical procedures involve a limited operative field and present significant challenges in anastomosis, long renowned for their precision and high level of difficulty. Initially, Synaptive Medical aimed solely to enhance brain imaging during neurosurgical procedures, such as by generating brain network maps and neural structure diagrams. However, as research deepened, Synaptive identified more critical issues requiring urgent solutions, leading to the development of an integrated product ecosystem that seamlessly covers MRI imaging, surgical planning, navigation, and intraoperative adjustments.

Synaptive Medical Secures Two Rounds of Investment from Canada’s Official EDC and INOVAIT, with Transaction Value Exceeding $40 Million. This not only reflects the Canadian government’s attention to and support for the field of image-guided therapy, but also demonstrates the global market’s anticipation for innovative neurosurgical solutions.

On March 22, Synaptive announced that its next-generation Modus X robotic microscope had received FDA approval. The Modus X is equipped with 4K 3D optics and fluorescence modes, 27x magnification, automatic image focusing, and AI-powered voice guidance. These features can further enhance surgical visualization in specialties such as neurosurgery, otolaryngology, and spine surgery.