Minimally Invasive Devices, Inc. (MID), today announced it has completed a $9 million Series B financing led by Canaan Partners. Charter Life Science, an existing investor, also participated in the financing. Coinciding with the close of the Series B, Brent Ahrens, general partner at Canaan Partners has been appointed to the board of directors and Jim Bobbitt has been appointed vice president of sales.

Funds from the Series B will be utilized to establish a direct sales force, expand manufacturing operations, develop complimentary products and generate additional data to support the efficacy of the FDA-approved FloShield™ laparoscopic vision system, the first device that prevents loss of vision during laparoscopic surgery due to obscuration of the optics.

"Modern high definition video systems give surgeons a crystal clear view of a patient's organs during laparoscopic surgery, but only when the optics are clean," noted Wayne Poll, M.D., founder and CEO of MID. "Obscuration of images due to contaminants on the optics is a real problem that surgeons have long taken for granted. It's rather like purchasing a high-end digital camera and being satisfied with photos taken through a dirty lens."

The performance of laparoscopic surgery is significantly enhanced by modern high definition (HD) video systems, yet fat, smoke or other contaminants can settle on the optics and obscure the images. Surgeons may be forced to stop their procedures, remove the camera from the patient, and clean the optics up to ten times an hour.

MID's FloShield laparoscopic vision system attaches to the HD camera system and uses an air curtain to form an invisible protective barrier over the lens. This system is augmented by the Flo-X lens wash, a biocompatible surfactant that will flush the lens inside the body if needed, so that surgeons may operate without loss of vision and without lens removal.

"The problem of dirty lenses in laparoscopic surgery is taken for granted as a cost of using the minimally invasive procedure," noted Brent Ahrens, General Partner at Canaan Partners. "FloShield is an elegant solution to this very real problem and has the potential to be expanded to other endoscopy platforms. MID is a natural investment for Canaan."

Jim Bobbitt brings decades of experience in medical device sales to MID. Most recently, he served as vice president of sales and marketing for Neomend, Inc., a medical device start-up focusing on surgical sealants that was acquired by C. R. Bard. Prior to that, he was vice president of sales and corporate services for USHIFU, a privately held company developing a device to treat prostate cancer.

About Minimally Invasive Devices, Inc.

Minimally Invasive Devices, Inc. (MID) has developed and manufactures the FloShield™ laparoscopic vision system, the first device that prevents loss of vision during laparoscopic surgery due to obscuration of the optics.