FEATURE
Molli Surgical eases the medical journey Technology replaces outdated breast cancer procedures BY STEPHEN LAW, EP&T
Molli 2 is an evolution in MOLLI Surgical’s award-winning lesion localization platform technology. Improving on precision, the firm has added new directional feedback into its wand and tablet display.
Toronto-based Molli Surgical is quickly establishing itself as an emerging leader in Canada’s medical electronics sector and abroad by pushing the boundaries of precision breast cancer surger y with its award-winning technologies. This year, the firm launched two new products that make breast cancer surgery more precise for surgeons and better for patients. These devices, MOLLI 2 and MOLLI re.markable, are both paving the way for the next generation of healthcare. The award-winning, wire-free soft tissue localization technology marks the location of a lesion precisely for removal during surgery. “Our mission has been very much about creating technology and to save and improve lives. We do that with a set of brilliant engineering staff in Toronto,” says Ananth Ravi, president and 8
CEO of Molli Surgical. The MOLLI 2 device is easy to use, reliable and precise, delivering enhanced efficiency. MOLLI re.markable is a revolutionary new tool helping physicians accurately mark lesions by allowing radiologists and surgeons to reposition a localization marker with minimal impact or discomfort for patients. If the original placement was suboptimal, the localization marker can be removed without requiring invasive surgery or a large biopsy needle. “When working on medical devices, it is imperative to create safe effective products because our mission is very different from consumer electronics. We are impacting people’s lives, so the risk is that much higher. There’s a level of diligence that we must provide,” Ravi says. “Our products make it easier for surgeons to have more confidence, so that when they are taking out some
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY / November/December 2023
tissue - it’s the right tissue and it’s not too much.” MOLLI 2 is an evolution in MOLLI Surgical’s award-winning platform technology that allows surgeons to pinpoint cancerous tissue for faster, more accurate, and potentially improved cosmesis while significantly improving the patient experience. The wire-free technology includes the MOLLI Marker — about the size of a sesame seed — that can be detected using MOLLI 2. The MOLLI Marker is the smallest on the market and precisely marks where lesions are located before breast cancer surgery.The MOLLI Tablet then displays the distance — and now direction — between the tip of MOLLI 2 and the MOLLI Marker in millimeters. MOLLI 2 is easy to use, reliable and precise, delivering improved efficiency and improving patient outcomes. “These devices allow doctors
to create optimal cosmetic results for the patient, but also cut the cancer out. From a health system perspective, we’re also separating radiology where they implant the marker from surgery where they take it out. It allows a lot of process efficiency,” said Ravi, who started off his career as a physicist, responsible for the radiation oncology program at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. So as part of that, Ravi gained early exposure and experience building customized treatments and technologies for precision health care and precision radiation. “I’ve always been building things, whether it’d be electrical guidance systems or imaging systems for assisting and improving the patient experience and journey. Other initiatives were more tactical mechanical components – used in mobilization devices or processes,” noted Ravi. “While I was working as a medical physicist in this role for radiation, a surgeon approached me on how to improve the improve the journey for breast cancer patients. We soon started doing work together - trying to make that experience tremendously better - and that’s how Molli was born.” Molli’s commercial launch this year has these products being used in more than 100 institutions, while treating greater than 8,000 patients throughout North America. That success was mostly driven by a diverse and collaborative engineering team and a lot of patience. “A lot of our engineering design function is done in Toronto, and we now have a commercialization arm that is looking for ways to grow globally. We’re very strong in North America and Canada,” Ravi added. Due to the complexity of creating such products, Ravi was faced with assembling a diverse design team - in terms of engineering disciplines. “We actually have quite a variety of specialists from mechanical engineering - to help build the construct and the hardware. EPT.CA
Photo: MOLLI Surgical
MEDICAL ELECTRONICS
