Medical device company PhotoniCare announced it secured $4.6 million in Series B funding. The financing is the first close in an expected $9 million funding round.  

The company also announced the formation of a manufacturing partnership with Gentex Corporation for its first-in-class, FDA-cleared OtoSight Middle Ear Scope. 

It also finalized the relocation of its headquarters from Champaign, Illinois, to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

WHAT IT DOES

Through optical coherence tomography (OCT) high-resolution depth imaging, PhotoniCare’s OtoSight Middle Ear Scope helps determine the existence or scarcity of fluid in the middle ear and helps characterize the fluid type, even in the presence of significant ear wax.

This capability may give pediatric, family medicine and urgent care clinicians the capacity to more effectively diagnose, treat and monitor middle ear infections.  

"We are very pleased to have secured the first close of our Series B financing led by Gentex Corporation with continued participation and support from long-time PhotoniCare shareholder, Michigan Capital Network," Cary Vance, president and CEO of PhotoniCare, said in a statement.  

"PhotoniCare will use the proceeds to support our ongoing clinical trial, ramp production and sales of our OtoSight Middle Ear Scope, relocate our headquarters to work more closely with our new manufacturing partner, Gentex, and be nearer to our valued Michigan investor base. We are in the process of securing additional investment and expect to close out the full $9 million round in the next few months."  

MARKET SNAPSHOT

A feasibility study on the use of OCT for ultra-high-resolution imaging of the middle ear via ex vivo imaging studies of human tissue published in a 2021 issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, concluded "the ability of OCT to produce high-resolution images of tissue structure, without contact and in real-time, as well as its ability to be integrated with endoscopes, suggests that this technology could become a useful modality for the diagnosis and management of a range of clinical middle ear abnormalities." 

Another company that produces OCT systems is global healthcare company Abbott, which offers an OCT for intravascular imaging.