Aquyre Biosciences Inc., formerly known as Lltech, raised $19,945,534 in a series A2 preferred stock financing round to fund commercialization of its Celtivity system for on-site adequacy assessments of tissue biopsies. Ceros Financial Services acted as placement agent for more than $17.14 million of the funds raised in this round as part of its recently announced commitment to raise $100 million in the next 12 months for investment in early-stage medical technology and medical device companies.

TORONTO – Oncocyte Corp. launched Determaio, an immunotherapy response prediction test it said is “the first to comprehensively assess the tumor microenvironment.” This is important because of how smart cancer cells are in that microenvironment, Oncocyte CEO Ronnie Andrews told BioWorld, commandeering natural tissue repair biology and condensing immunological T cells so they back off attacking cancerous tissue.

The FDA granted Blackrock Neurotech LLC breakthrough device designation for its Moveagain brain-computer interface (BCI) system as it targets 2022 for commercialization of the neural implant. Earlier this year, the Salt Lake City-based company received $10 million from investors including, Re.Mind Capital, Sorenson Impact and Facebook investor Peter Thiel to expand its clinical program. The company said its technology could be key to providing tetraplegic patients the ability to control devices directly from the brain.

PARIS – Incepto Medical SAS, in partnership with Marie-Lannelongue Hospital, is developing an automated system to measure maximum aorta diameter. Called ARVA (Augmented Radiology for Vascular Aneurysm), it’s hosted in the cloud and is CE marked as a class I device. “Our tool uses the first algorithm to provide automatic measurement of external aortic diameter along the entire aorta, from ascending aorta to the iliac arteries,” Antoine Jomier, co-founder and CEO of Incepto, told BioWorld. This new tool for radiologists and surgeons will be used to diagnosis and monitor aneurysms.

For brain surgeons, the shift is the sticking point. When a surgeon opens the cranium to remove a tumor, the brain moves as much as 1 cm, making much of the pre-operative mapping of the tumor essentially useless. While the bulk of a lesion can be identified by its density, the tendrils blend into the surrounding tissue – and taking excess margins means more brain damage. Designs for Vision Inc.’s bright idea, a headlamp that illuminates a fluorescing tumor with a laser light, makes brain surgery quicker, safer and more accurate.