Clinical Trial Begins for Exero Medical’s Wireless Anastomotic Sensor

Exero Medical, developer of a wireless sensor for early detection of anastomotic leaks following GI surgery, is starting its first clinical trial at the Rabin Medical Center in Israel to test the feasibility of its system. The clinical trial has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Rabin Medical Center and Israel’s Ministry of Health.
 
Researchers at Rabin Medical Center will use Exero’s system to collect data from the sensor during low anterior resection surgery. The results of the trial will enable the company to refine its detection algorithms based on real-life data. 
 
“Exero Medical addresses the $2 billion anastomotic leak (AL) market for which current approaches can only detect leaks post-op when the situation has become life-threatening for the patient,” said Dr. Erez Shor, CEO of Exero Medical. “Incidence and cost of AL is alarmingly high. Through early detection of anastomotic leaks, physicians can intervene earlier and save lives.”
 
Anastomotic leaks have a 6 percent to 10 percent occurrence rate post-operation in lower GI procedures and can lead to life threatening complications, with substantial risk of mortality. There is currently no solution to address the high incidence of post-operative anastomotic leaks. The occurrence of AL is not a function of the surgeon’s skill or the equipment used but can happen to any patient following surgery.
 
“Currently, the risk of anastomotic leak after resection surgery is one of the fears keeping surgeons up at night. GI resection procedures to remove cancerous growths are performed on patients whose health is already fragile. The additional, potentially fatal risk of leaks requires an innovative solution,” explained Prof. Nir Wasserberg M.D., chairman of the Israeli Society of Colorectal Surgery and Director of the Division of Colorectal Surgery at Rabin Medical Center. “Exero has developed a platform that has the potential to provide surgeons with data they have never before had access to—real-time information on tissue healing. This will arm physicians with the insight they need to intervene before a patient’s status becomes catastrophic.”
 
Exero Medical’s sensor along with its proprietary machine learning algorithms is designed to monitor and analyze the surrounding tissue, sending live feedback to healthcare staff regarding the tissue healing progress.
 
Exero Medical is a portfolio company of MEDX Xelerator, an Israeli Innovation Authority incubator which is a joint initiative of Boston Scientific, Intellectual Ventures, MEDX Ventures and Sheba Medical Center.
 
Exero Medical saves lives through early detection of anastomotic leaks following gastrointestinal (GI) surgeries, addressing a $2 billion market with its patented sensor technology. The company has created a patent-pending implantable biodegradable wireless sensor designed to continuously monitor the GI tract near the surgical site, alerting physicians to potential anastomotic leakage post-operation. Driven by an adaptive machine-learning engine, Exero’s sensors are intended to detect patient deterioration during the recovery period, and also enable early patient discharge by identifying healthy tissue healing.