A Medical Device Daily

Surgical device maker Minimally Invasive Devices (MID; Columbus, Ohio) has raised more than $1.5 million in equity, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company will use the funding to launch several new products, including a next-generation version of its FloShield, which stops liquid from gathering at the tip of and obstructing the view of a laparoscope, CEO Wayne Poll said.

FloShield is a device that addresses several of the top issues surgeons face when performing laparoscopic surgery. Specifically, the product helps keep the laparoscope lens free from debris and fog during surgery, helping to greatly reduce the need for surgeons to remove and clean the lens, leading to reduced surgery time.

MID also plans to launch an access system for the FloShield and a liquid cleaning solution that can be used with the product, Poll said. He hopes to receive regulatory approval to begin selling the FloShield in the EU around the middle of 2011.

Earlier this year, MID signed a distribution deal with CareFusion (San Diego) for the FloShield (Medical Device Daily, Jan. 27, 2010). The company is shopping for a European distributor, though CareFusion may win that job, too, Poll said.

Last year, the company raised $1.35 million in investment funding that Poll said would be used to start work on a kidney stone removal tool. However, MID has pulled back from those plans to focus on laparoscopic surgery products. Poll said that focusing on MID's core business will make it more attractive to an acquirer.

The latest funding round was open only to existing investors. Poll is targeting $2 million for the current round. MID has raised about $7 million since its inception in 2007.