Saranas, a medical device company with a new technology for real-time detection of internal bleeding during cardiac procedures, has closed a $4 million Series B round of financing. The funding will be used to advance the company's Early Bird™ Bleed Detection device through final product testing and FDA submission later this year.

Newly appointed Saranas President and CEO Zaffer Syed said, "The Early Bird system is potentially an important medical advancement for patients who can be affected by serious bleeding complications during cardiac catheterization procedures. This new investor infusion is a strong vote of confidence in the progress of our technology. With this funding, we expect to complete product development, seek regulatory clearance in the United States and Europe and initiate a clinical pilot with physicians."

The Early Bird device is a standard vascular access sheath embedded with sensors that can detect bleeding from a blood vessel accidentally ruptured during medical procedures - such as transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs), where the femoral artery is used to gain access to the heart. The technology was invented at the Texas Heart Institute.

Each year more than 20 million people in the U.S. undergo vascular access procedures. About 5%, or 1 million of them, will experience severe bleeding complications, resulting in significant additional healthcare expenditures and placing the patients at an increased risk of death. These "blind" bleeds are typically unnoticed until meaningful symptoms are present, by which time their management is much more challenging and can compromise patient outcomes. By being able to detect the onset of bleeding early, the Saranas Early Bird system allows physicians to appropriately address the bleed and to continue the procedure.

Mr. Syed joined Saranas in 2017 as CEO and brings over 18 years of medical device industry experience to the company. He has held management positions at publicly traded St. Jude Medical and Boston Scientific, and venture backed OrthoAccel Technologies. Mr. Syed obtained an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, an MS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a BE in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. "I am honored and excited to work with our talented team to bring this compelling solution to market," said Syed.

About Saranas

Saranas is a privately held Houston, Texas-based medical device company focused on improving patient outcomes through early detection of internal bleeding complications. The company's patented introducer sheath technology for vascular access procedures enables physicians to mitigate downstream consequences by addressing bleeding complications immediately, improving patient outcomes and lowering healthcare costs.