Symple Surgical Awarded SBIR Phase I Grant for Novel Radiometry‐Guided Ablation Catheter to Reliably Treat Barrett's Esophagus

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., February 1, 2022 (Newswire.com) - Symple Surgical Inc. (SSI) announced today that it has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant award totaling $399,834.00 from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). SSI has partnered in this research with Duke University to investigate the feasibility of integrating radiometric temperature feedback with its microwave ablation catheter device platform to treat Barrett's Esophagus and esophageal cancers. This award, together with the previous NIH SBIR phase I award of $225,000.00 for a radiometric feedback-guided ablation catheter for renal denervation, will further advance SSI's DirectAblate^TM and GRIZZLY^TM device technologies as it continues to pursue pre-clinical evidence and strive toward commercialization.

Sohail Desai, Chief Technology Officer, responded: "We are proud to be part of an elite group of award recipients to receive a perfect review score of their grant application. This award further validates the need for more effective therapies to treat Barrett's Esophagus and esophageal cancers. We have assembled a top-notch, multi-disciplinary team of engineering, gastroenterology and veterinary medicine experts to create a solid foundation for this research endeavor."

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common and approximately 1% of adults in the United States have Barrett's esophagus (BE), which is a premalignant condition complication of chronic GERD. Barrett's is a strong risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), the sixth most common cause of cancer-related deaths, and the most rapidly rising cancer in developed countries.

Duke University professors Paolo Maccarini (electrical engineering), David Leiman (gastroenterology) and Jeffery Everitt (pathology) are guiding Symple Surgical on the development of the next generation of BE ablation endoscopic catheters with real-time tissue temperature feedback using a new technology.

Real-time dosimetry, guided by passively collecting thermal radiation from multiple sensing volumes, will help establish a dependable treatment zone targeting the entire affected area. Delivering this therapy using a low-cost, catheter-based, microwave thermal therapy approach may allow real-time feedback to the clinician thereby increasing treatment precision and cost-effectiveness to advance the care of esophageal diseases and ultimately prevent EAC-related deaths.

All future research reported is supported by the National Cancer Institute of the NIH under award number R43CA257701.

For more information:

Whitney Cunningham

(928) 774-1478

Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, PLLC

About Symple Surgical Inc.

Symple Surgical Inc. (SSI) is a privately held early-stage medical device company with engineering and product development offices in Flagstaff, AZ. SSI has raised approximately $3.0M in angel round financing since 2012. SSI is focused on developing a medical device ablation platform to help millions of patients for multiple possible applications, including treatment of Barrett's esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma, pulmonary hypertension, resistant hypertension and other ablation opportunities. Symple Surgical Inc. products are currently not available for clinical evaluation or sale.

The information provided herein does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

Source: Symple Surgical