Meio CadiNav Medical Completes Series A Funding Round and Achieves Milestone as First Domestic Company to Complete Clinical Enrollment for Atrial Fibrillation Robotic Surgery System

VCBeat has learned that Meio CadiNav Medical, a company specializing in cardiac interventional surgical robots, recently completed its Series A financing round. This round was exclusively invested by the Shaoxing Yuecheng Urban Development Group. The funds raised will be used for the multi-center clinical trials of Meio CadiNav’s core product, the TITIAN “Titian” atrial fibrillation interventional surgical robot.

Mayo Heart Magnet was jointly founded by experts from Zhejiang Province’s “Talent Introduction Program,” chief physicians in clinical cardiology, and a leading entrepreneurial team in Zhejiang Province. The company is dedicated to the research and development of navigation technologies for cardiac interventional procedures, robotic systems for interventional surgery, high-value consumables for interventional procedures, and remote surgical control systems. Headquartered in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, the company has established core R&D centers in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Shaoxing.

Currently, Mayo Heart Magnet has become the first company in China to complete clinical enrollment trials for subjects undergoing atrial fibrillation interventional surgery using a robotic system. It is expected to complete all registered clinical enrollment trials by 2023 and submit an NMPA registration application for its cardiac electrophysiology interventional surgical robot product.

Mayo XinCi is a typical medical-engineering integrated enterprise, with the company possessing over 30 years of accumulated experience in interventional procedures from its clinical cardiology department.Authoritative Team of Clinicians, backed by years of technical expertise in the annual production of tens of millions of satellite navigation chipsDigital Signal Processing Teamof core electromagnetic and motor control technologiesIndustry Team. Through the tireless efforts of cross-functional teams, Mayo Heart Magnet has established multiple product lines for cardiac surgical robots, includingTITIAN “Titian” Cardiac Electrophysiology Surgical Robot, MANTEGNA “Mantai” Left Atrial Appendage Occluder Implantation Surgical Robot, and RAPHAELLO “Raphaelo” Cardiac Interventional Flexible Magnetic Navigation Surgical Robot。

In 2022, the overall healthcare investment climate cooled, impacting healthcare startups to varying degrees. However, from an optimistic perspective, this presented Mayo CardioMagnetic with an excellent window of opportunity to focus intently on product research, development, and iteration. Dr. Chen Yuemeng, the founder, introduced that over the past year, Mayo CardioMagnetic dedicated itself to the preliminary preparations for the industrialization of its cardiac interventional surgical robot. At its Shaoxing headquarters, the company established a R&D base and procedural training center spanning over 1,200 square meters. It also completed the construction of a powered equipment manufacturing production line for surgical robots covering more than 2,000 square meters, a Class 100,000 cleanroom for sterile consumables assembly, and a Class 10,000 physicochemical laboratory, successfully passing GMP certification. These achievements have laid a solid foundation for Mayo CardioMagnetic’s path toward the domestic production of cardiovascular surgical robots in China.

Over the past year, Mayo Heart Magnetism has partnered with Zhejiang University Shaoxing Research Institute and the Science and Technology Bureau of Yuecheng District, Shaoxing City, to jointly establish an R&D and experimental platform for integrated circuits in magnetically navigated surgical robots. The collaboration focuses on the development of core chip technologies, including electrophysiological spatial navigation chips and radiofrequency and pulsed field ablation (PFA) multimodal ablation chips, aiming to increase the proportion of domestically developed components in the upstream supply chain of surgical robots and accelerate the growth of Shaoxing’s integrated circuit and medical device industrial clusters.

In the field of cardiac interventional surgical robots, no NMPA-approved products have yet been launched in China. Chen Yuemeng stated, “Although there is no prior experience to draw upon, this also provides Mayo Heart Magnetism with significant room for development in terms of intellectual property.” In 2022, Mayo Heart Magnetism’s IP barriers reached new heights, with patent innovations surpassing the 100-patent milestone. The company obtained 43 Chinese patents and had 78 invention patents under substantive examination in areas including: precise quantitative control of interventional catheters and sheaths to achieve visualized spatial positioning of surgical guide sheaths; millimeter-level fine control of catheters and sheaths during electrophysiological interventional procedures; remote robotic arm-controlled ablation surgeries; and reduction of radiation injury from X-ray fluoroscopy.

January 2023,Mayo Heart Magnet Achieves Major Breakthrough in the Clinical Registration of Atrial Fibrillation Surgical RobotsBreakthrough: Becomes the First Surgical Robotics Company in China to Complete Clinical Enrollment of Subjects for Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

TITIAN “Titian” Atrial Fibrillation Surgical Robot is the world’s first dual-arm controlled electrophysiological interventional device robot system, replacing the doctor’s hands to complete integrated sheath and catheter surgical operations. Based on the core product development principle of not altering clinical interventional sheath operation habits, the same operator demonstrated a rapid learning curve for robotic surgical skills in several completed robotic clinical trials.

Through submillimeter-precision control, the TITIAN “Titian” robot enables visualization of fixed-curve sheaths, addressing the clinical challenge of invisible fixed-curve sheaths in three-dimensional mapping systems. This facilitates low-cost, rapid ablation procedures and reduces reliance on physicians’ manual manipulation expertise.

The TITIAN “Titian” robot significantly optimizes catheterization laboratory configuration requirements. Through its integrated installation with the operating table, it does not occupy additional floor space in the cath lab. No extra adjustments to power supply or radiation protection are needed, enabling the fastest possible upgrade to an intelligent catheterization laboratory. This solution addresses the global challenge hindering the commercial adoption of magnetic navigation robots, which has been caused by their bulky size and complex customization requirements.

Mayo Heart Magnetism plans to complete the NMPA registration application for the TITIAN “Titian” robot by the end of 2023. Compared with the 5–10 year cycle for R&D and submission of registration applications abroad, Mayo Heart Magnetism’s R&D speed is evident.

Based on years of R&D accumulation, Mayo Heart Magnetism has identified two directions for product iteration:

First, upgrading from manual surgical procedures to robotic one-stop surgical procedures.This iterative approach, on the one hand, significantly reduces the physical workload of surgeons during operations, while the integrated remote surgical guidance system allows physicians to operate away from X-ray radiation environments, thereby lowering the risk of occupational injuries. On the other hand, it addresses issues associated with manual manipulation, such as tremors, over-rotation, and repetitive repositioning, enabling standardization of surgical techniques, high-precision and stable control, and a reduced risk of medical accidents.

The “TITIAN” robot already meets the aforementioned functional requirements. Following the completion of this financing round, Mayo Heart Magnet will build on this foundation to achieve compatibility with a broader range of mainstream interventional devices used in clinical practice, thereby enabling one-stop robotic procedures for other cardiovascular interventions, reducing patients’ exposure to X-ray radiation, and advancing green cardiovascular interventional surgery.

Second, upgrading from rigid catheters to flexible catheters.Flexible catheters enhance the safety of interventional procedures, significantly reducing surgical complications such as cardiac perforation and cardiac tamponade. Mayo Heart Magnetism’s magnetic navigation product line—the RAPHAELLO robotic system, a flexible magnetic navigation stereotactic positioning and precise ablation system—employs advanced flexible magnetic navigation surgery. It revolutionizes traditional guidewire manipulation in catheter spatial navigation by improving procedural safety through flexible magnetic field control, thereby achieving an upgrade from rigid to flexible catheters.

Currently, the annual number of surgical procedures for atrial fibrillation treatment in China is only100,000 casesIn stark contrast to the high penetration rates of surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation in Europe and the United States, China’s market demand continues to grow as its population ages. The annual number of atrial fibrillation surgeries in China is projected to exceed1 million casesCurrently, achieving this goal with manual surgical techniques is highly challenging. With the ongoing industrialization and commercialization of the Mayo Clinic magnetically guided cardiac surgical robot, it is expected that the training cycle for young electrophysiologists will be significantly shortened, rapidly increasing the number of experienced electrophysiology operators. This will facilitate standardized surgical procedures and help the nation improve the penetration rate of atrial fibrillation ablation surgeries.

Prior to this round of financing, Mayo Magnetic had received backing from professional investment institutions such as Tusi Star, Fangxin Capital, Zhenghong Fund, and Shun’an Investment, which provided resource support across R&D, testing, clinical trials, and regulatory registration. The recent endorsement by Shaoxing’s state-owned capital will further accelerate the industrialization and innovation of Mayo Magnetic’s medical products.

Shaoxing Yuecheng District Urban Development GroupChairman Fu Xiumei stated that Mayo Heart’s innovative medical achievements in cardiovascular surgical robotics will substantially enhance the level and capacity of healthcare services in Yuecheng District, thereby increasing the supply of high-quality medical resources. Leveraging the brand strength, talent-driven innovation, and technical expertise of premium medical resources represented by Mayo Heart, Yuecheng District can fully capitalize on the complementary advantages of both parties to promote the research, development, and industrialization of scientific outcomes. This will provide efficient, high-quality healthcare services in cardiology and cardiovascular robotic surgery to residents of Yuecheng District and Shaoxing City at large, holding significant importance for fostering the long-term development of Yuecheng’s life and health industry as well as its high-quality medical resources.

The completion of Benling’s financing will significantly bolster Mayo Heart & Magnetism’s continuous innovation and accelerate the development of its products in the pipeline. As a highly execution-driven, cross-disciplinary team in the “hard tech” sector, we look forward to Mayo Heart & Magnetism reaching new heights and achieving even greater success.