AI meets approvals, mental health consolidates, and early-stage device builders get fuel — a tidy week for cardiology/ophthalmology AI, workflow rollouts, and surgical tools.
People on the move
CMR Surgical: Chris O’Hara joins as Commercial President & GM (U.S.) to drive Versius robot expansion following FDA authorization; signals Cambridge-based CMR’s acceleration of global go-to-market. Mr. O’Hara brings experience at Intuitive Surgical (a company that builds DaVinci that Versius robot is challenging) and Globus Medical (specialists in spine sugery devices), his appointment is a strategic bet from CMR Surgical.
Money flows
Nami Surgical (Glasgow, UK): $10M, Series A (opened); developing a mini ultrasonic scalpel for robotic surgery. Proceeds support product development and commercialization prep. Tech from Nami addresses a critical unmet need in the field. Ultrasonic scalpels, which use high-frequency vibrations to simultaneously cut tissue and cauterise blood vessels, are indispensable tools in modern minimally invasive surgery. What they have is 90% smaller than available competitors.
Mindler (Sweden) acquires ieso Digital Health UK on undisclosed terms; creates a cross-border digital mental health platform spanning Nordics & UK buyers (employers, insurers, public payers). As there is an urgent need to address crisis of mental health and lack of (human) specialists, platforms such us Mindler and ieso are indispensable. Mindler is acquiring only ieso’s UK-based telecare services business, which is responsible for direct patient care delivery to the NHS. The parent company, ieso, will remain an independent entity pivoting to focus on the development and commercialisation of its evidence-based clinical AI platform, Velora, with an initial focus on the US market.
On the press
• ZEISS lands CE mark for CIRRUS PathFinder: integrated AI decision-support for OCT that flags abnormal macular B-scans and improves OCTA visualization; EU-ready software update/licence.
• Femasys secures UK MHRA approval for FemBloc: non-surgical, in-office permanent contraception; follows the company’s recent CE mark and advances European commercialization.
• Affidea x Skin Analytics: pan-European partnership to deploy Class III CE-marked AI dermatology (DERM – Deep Ensemble for the Recognition of Malignancy) across sites, starting in Romania and Lithuania with Greece next.
One thing to remember The EU’s AI-in-diagnostics momentum is real: new CE/MHRA greenlights (ZEISS, FemBloc) are pairing with deployment deals (Affidea × Skin Analytics), while funding still finds focused hardware/robotics and safety wearables (Nami Surgical, SIT). Founders: bring regulatory-grade proof and a crisp rollout plan.
This content has been enhanced with GenAI tools.
